Pet

Finalist, National Book Awards 2019 for Young People's Literature

ISBN 9780525647072
Make Me a World, Penguin Random House |
Akwaeke Emezi

Akwaeke Emezi makes their young adult debut with Pet on the inaugural Make Me a World list. An honoree on the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35” list, a longlist nominee for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and a shortlist nominee for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, Akwaeke continues to receive accolades for their adult debut, Freshwater. More about this author >

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From the publisher:

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of Jam’s blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption’s house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question–How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?

Acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi makes their riveting and timely young adult debut with a book that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.

Judges Citation

In a world where angels rule, a terrifying creature is born of blood, ready to slay a monster. Surrender to the wondrous, deeply imagined tapestry of Akwaeke Emezi’s Pet. Weaving together startling imagery, trans pride, and African diasporic languages and traditions, children emerge as the true heroes in this allegory about evil and justice, family and forgiveness, and the grace of love between two friends. Emezi’s singular voice explodes silences and offers a tale of redemption.

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