NEITHER OUT FAR NOR IN DEEP

A troublesome teenager must adjust to life with his grandfather in the West Indies in Williams’ debut YA novel.

Black American teen Kadeem Johnson has just earned his third suspension in a month from his Florida high school for fighting. It’s the last straw for Kadeem’s mom, Gwendolyn, a hardworking nurse who packs him off to stay with his grandfather on St. Kitts, the West Indies island where she grew up. (The author’s portrayal of Gwendolyn’s love, frustration, and fear for Kadeem’s future offers a convincing impetus for her desperate decision.) Narrator Kadeem is certain that in a week or two his mother will feel that he’s learned his lesson: “I was gonna be back in Orlando soon. I was gonna have WiFi soon. This was all gonna be over soon.” Soon, he comes to terms with the fact that the arrangement may be permanent. Adjusting with difficulty to a different culture, Kadeem slowly finds positives in his enforced new life: his evolving relationship with a girl named Tess Turnbull; his school, where everyone has to wear a uniform, but there’s no lockdown drills and no one messes with you in the halls; and his eccentric grandfather, whose sly brand of tough love (involving physical labor and self-reliance) earns Kadeem’s grudging cooperation and respect—and, he realizes in a time of crisis, his affection. The novel straightforwardly asserts the behavioral and societal benefits of avoiding social media, having more structure in schools, and eating a healthier diet. It’s hardly subtle in its message, but it’s wrapped in lively, relatable storytelling. And although readers may find the rendering of some characters’ West Indian accents a bit wearying (“you cyan jus’ come root up de chile lak’ he a running vine”), the island setting, rooted in the author’s own upbringing on St. Kitts, is brimming with authenticity.

A well-crafted coming-of-age story that offers an earnest antidote to teen disaffection.