Kings of B'More

I do not feel I was the target audience for this type of book. That being said, I did enjoy parts of it. The friendship of Linus and Harrison was sweet and I wish the book had mostly focused on this and their last times together before leaving for college and moving out of state. YA books don't always need to move straight to romantic passionate love relationships and this showed that nicely with a strong platonic relationship between the two boys. The book did not deal just with this though and I found it jarring at parts, like the racism at the museum. I expected it to be more of a Ferris Bueller day, like was mentioned in the blurb. I love that movie but this book fell a bit short of that. Maybe it will hit differently for a different audience but I was underwhelmed and would not read this again. Thank you to Bookish First for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.

It is the end of sophomore year for best friends Harrison and Linus, two Black queer boys who live in Baltimore. Harrison is grateful that he will face the last two years of high school, and all the change that will come, with Linus by his side. Then Linus drops the news that he's moving to South Carolina in a few days, not by his own choice. Harrison is devastated but wants to give Linus a memorable send off. Inspired by the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and with the help of his friend Aparna, his high school's stage manager, he devises one last great day of fun for Linus. Of course, very little goes as planned. The Kings of B'More is, at its heart, a joyful and triumphant story of friendship. It is a real and relatable story of two friends who don't want to say goodbye, and their relationships with their families, friends and community. The characters of Harrison and Linus are well-developed, and Thomas' writing is insightful, relevant and humorous. It is a beautiful and emotional story. It's refreshing to find a YA novel which focuses primarily on friendship rather than on romance.