Chlorine Sky is a powerful coming-of-age story about a Black girl and all the hurdles that come forth along the way. Its unique format (novel-in-verse) offers a different perspective on the well-known issues many girls will relate to, such as toxic friendships, betrayal, sibling rivalry, and self-love.
“Everybody wants to be a hero, but most of us are just misunderstood villains.”
We follow Sky, a teenage girl, as she navigates her everyday life, such as playing basketball, going to the pool and the mall, and hanging out with her friends, while also dealing with problems of a disintegrating friendship, constant jabs from her older sister, and first loves. Sky is a usually quiet girl, who has been told by so many people to make herself “small” and she believes that is her duty. The only place she can be big and loud and angry is on the basketball court.
Things start changing for Sky when her best friend stops talking to her and Sky is faced with the reality that maybe, just maybe, that friendship was doomed from the get go. Lay Li always shone brightly, like a sun, and Sky was forced into her shadow, but now she gets a chance to shine and be her truest self as well.
“Here I go just shining like my own sun.”
The whole story of Sky is told in the confines of her friendship with Lay Li. We start with how their friendship fractured, travel back to how it all began, and end with Lay Li trying to make things right, if not for the sake of their now-broken friendship then for what they used to be. In turn, this offers a very unique view on Sky’s story and emphasises how truly powerful friendships (even toxic ones) can be.
And while this friendship is at the centre of the story, Browne also touches on subjects of family, love, and how women are treated in our society. We get to meet her older sister and her cousin, who each have a specific influence on Sky with one forcing her to lie low while the other encourages her to rise above the limits everyone is forcing on her. Sky is also falling in love for the first time and while this particular storyline is mostly pushed to the sidelines, it also offers another view on her friendship with Lay Li.
As Sky is a good basketball player, we get to know first hand her feelings and experiences on the court, how she is belittled even there for being a girl despite her truly shining on the court. Throughout the story, you can feel a shift in Sky happening as she goes from lessening her talents to not stand out too much to playing as her heart desires. Sky moves from:
“This is how I learn to play not as big cause nobody got time for a girl outshining them” to “On the court / There is no mercy / I’m a baller / and I don’t care who is bothered by all the space / I take up.”
And this is a truly beautiful shift in mentality to experience.
Browne’s writing is one-of-a-kind and some verses will keep you guessing and pondering them for days. While many of the lines relate to a certain person or situation, they also rise above that and offer a running commentary for the world we live in and issues many marginalised groups are forced to face on a daily basis.
“And I ain’t got time to teach the boys to mind they hands / Who else gets to walk around with their putting they hands on things that don’t belong to them?”
Browne’s especially powerful lines are about what it means to be a girl, but most specifically a Black girl, and how the patriarchy is still confining women, whether they are aware of it or not.
“Be two steps ahead of anyone that tries to put you down because you’re a girl, Being a Black girl & a Black girl baller is a whole set of rules you never see coming.”
The world forces women to downplay their skills, to nod along, to not fight, and Sky’s journey is a beautiful anthem to how learning your own worth will achieve the opposite and force the world to its knees. A stunning nod to feminism and fighting for what women deserve, Sky’s story will inspire.
“I realize a girl’s mouth is a weapon. Now I realize being a girl is heavy business.”
Chlorine Sky is a must read for everyone, and a beautiful successor to recent YA hits, such as Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give and Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X. And if you are not sure yet if this is the read for you, here’s a small quote from the book that holds infinite power in its relevance and truthfulness:
“If you show up and show the world your real self / You don’t have to wait for others to claim you / You don’t have to wait for others to pick you / You pick yourself, I mean / Really choose yourself every day / and no one will be able to tell you that you aren’t the real MVP.”
Chlorine Sky is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 12th 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A novel-in-verse about a young girl coming-of-age and stepping out of the shadow of her former best friend. Perfect for readers of Elizabeth Acevedo and Nikki Grimes.
She looks me hard in my eyes
& my knees lock into tree trunks
My eyes don’t dance like my heartbeat racing
They stare straight back hot daggers.
I remember things will never be the same.
I remember things.
With gritty and heartbreaking honesty, Mahogany L. Browne delivers a novel-in-verse about broken promises, fast rumors, and when growing up means growing apart from your best friend.
