Imagine yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Imagine trying to desperately find your way out of a dangerous situation, making your way to somewhere safer. Imagine you’re trying to do it with someone you’ve just barely met. Imagine that it feels like the world is caving in and going crazy all around you right as this all unfolds.
Such is the story of “I’m Not Dying With You Tonight” by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal. The two authors, one white and one black, collaborated on this book to tell the story of two high school girls, one white and one black, who find themselves in an unlikely pairing as they make their way from McPherson High School in the suburbs of Atlanta after a fight and riot break out during McPherson’s football game against their biggest rival, Jonesville.
As the story unfolds, we find out more about Campbell and Lena. Campbell has recently moved to the area to live with her dad, who runs a small hardware store, after her mom took a job in Venezuela. Campbell is working in the concession stand as the riot begins and finds herself paired with Lena. The chapters ping pong back and forth, one told from the perspective of Lena followed by one told from the perspective of Campbell.
The reader is able to not only read the story but hear the thoughts and feelings of each character as they make their way through their town, desperately trying to find safety in the midst of crisis. Each character brings with her all of her implicit biases, the preconceived notions and assumptions that they had for the other. As they journey together, those notions and assumptions they have towards each other begin to unravel and a friendship begins. There’s nothing that can expedite a relationship more than a shared experience and the need to rely on one another.
Jones and Segal tell the story so well. You can almost hear the sirens, smell the smoke, and feel the anxiety as it tries to suffocate the main characters. The authors do a good job of creating the tension of the story, not with cheap gimmicks, but by coming so close to real life in their depiction. It didn’t hurt that the tragic murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis served as the backdrop for me as I read this book. There were multiple times that I had to remind myself that this was a work of fiction as I could have easily been reading the firsthand accounts of two students in Anywhere, USA in the aftermath of the killing.
As someone who grew up in the suburbs of privilege, books like this are not only important for me to read but also important for me to encourage my children to read. While I never want to completely insulate my children from the real life events that happen every day, I constantly feel the dilemma of how to introduce my children to subject matter such as this book deals with while also being conscious of their age and what might be age-appropriate. That in and of itself speaks to my privilege as I have the luxury of deciding how to introduce it rather than being forced, as so many black and brown people are, to face it head on as it unfolds before them all too often.
Jones and Segal don’t compromise the reality of the story as they tell it, but they also keep the story at a young adult level, a level that is much more palatable for me as a parent to introduce to my children. While some readers might find some of the use of language objectionable, Jones and Segal are telling a story that could easily play out as reality today. There is no gratuitous use of obscenity or other material, but it exists in the same way that it exists in the everyday lives of high school students in the 21st century.
If you are looking for a book to allow you the opportunity to walk through a journey like Lena and Campbell do firsthand, “I’m Not Dying With You Tonight” is a worthwhile read. If you want a book to share with your children and to discuss afterwards or while they read it, you should consider this book as well. In the end, not only the journey that these characters experience but also the journey that they’ve begun is an important lesson for both parents and children alike. This story can both inform and educate as well as give hope for shared experiences in the future.
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A story of survival, friendship and finding their way
Shaylon scott
Reviews with images
Great Quality, Nice Design
I have not read it yet, but it came fast and its gorgeous! I'm so excited so to read it
Top reviews from other countries
cris
Pretty standard. Characters stereotypical, plot not very plausible.
Reviewed in Germany on June 20, 2020
