Printz Winner

LaCour, Nina. (2017). We are okay. New York: Dutton.

Marin left California the day her grandfather died and has talked to no one from there in months. But now her best friend/girl friend is coming to her college in New York to visit and Marin is going to have to talk about what happened and why she left. In California, Marin lived with her grandfather, a sweet man who baked and played cards with his buddies. He has a long distance relationship with a woman named Birdie whom he writes letter to. But when her grandfather disappeared, Marin discovered that everything was a lie. He was mentally ill and was writing the letters himself. When he claimed that he had no baby pictures of her, he had a room full of photos and items from her mother. Marin couldn't handle that everything he said was a lie so she too ran. But with Mabel there she is finally able to tell what happened and begin to face the memory of the man she thought she knew.

This was one of those books where I really didn't like it, but couldn't put it down because I really had to know what happened. I know that may not make sense, but this isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. I love YA but tend to go towards fantasy and low sci fi, not realistic. Marin's struggle with who her grandfather was versus who he portrayed himself was a bit much for me. But I'm a "put on your big girl pants and deal" person, so her running off bothered me. But not everyone likes every book and that's why we need diversity in the library.