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Amber McBride’s work has been published in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Provincetown Arts. Her debut young adult novel Me (Moth) was a Finalist for the National Book Award and won the 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Awards’ John Steptoe New Talent Award, among many other accolades. More about this author >
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FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and uprooted.
Until she meets Sani, a boy who is also searching for his roots. If he knows more about where he comes from, maybe he’ll be able to understand his ongoing depression. And if Moth can help him feel grounded, then perhaps she too will discover the history she carries in her bones.
Moth and Sani take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors. The way each moves forward is surprising, powerful, and unforgettable.
Here is an exquisite and uplifting novel about identity, first love, and the ways that our memories and our roots steer us through the universe.
With haunting lyricism and mellifluous free verse, Me (Moth) is equal parts ancestor veneration and land acknowledgment that honors the spiritual traditions of African and Native people. Amber McBride registers themes of death, survivor's guilt, and mental illness that pulse in the veins of Moth and Sani’s love songs. Me (Moth) reminds us that monuments of America’s past are like ghosts that plague our collective dreams—dismantling them will guide our healing and reconciliation.
Amber McBride, 2021 National Book Awards Young People’s Lit. Finalist, reads from ME (MOTH)
