Sundown Girls

In the tradition of Jordan Peele and Tiffany Jackson’s The Weight of Blood, a YA thriller about a Black teen whose fight for survival forces a small southern vacation town to face its dark history of racial violence.

When sixteen-year-old Naomi Ward and her family head to a secluded cabin in the Shenandoah Valley for summer vacation they don’t know the small, mountain town of Sparksburg, Virginia has a dark and twisted past. But when they arrive, Naomi can’t shake the feeling that something about Sparksburg just isn’t right—and it smells god awful, but for some reason Naomi is the only who can smell the town’s stench. When she learns Sparksburg had once been a Sundown Town—a town where Black people weren’t allowed after sunset lest they be murdered—Naomi’s unease starts to make sense.

As Naomi digs more into Sparksburg’s violent origins, she finds herself haunted by the ghost of a girl, appearing nightly outside her window. Then she learns of two girls who’ve recently gone missing and suspects the past may still be present in Sparksburg and beneath the quaint façade of this tourist town is a palpable danger.

5+ Absolutely awesome thriller. I jumped into this one just because of the cover (it already has a lot of storytelling). As I started reading about this teen who discovered her mom is actually her kidnapper. The authorities returned the teen to her family who are strangers to her. I could no longer put it down. It's easy to see this author has mastered her craft. I read it in one go. Refreshing takes on usual elements that make it feel new, combined with American Black History wrongdoing from racist townspeople. A bittersweet ending, but very satisfying, with just the right amount of paranormal elements. Great read. This was my first contact with this author's books so now I'm jumping into her adult thriller Not So Perfect Strangers.

For thriller fans 

For Joran Peele fans

Spotlights missing black girls

Written by a former crime newspaper reporter

Thank you to @penguinteen for sending me a copy of the book.

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