My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

Rising seventh-grader Ebony-Grace Norfleet Freeman (or, as she prefers, Cadet E-Grace Starfleet) is obsessed with all manner of science fiction, much preferring her spacefaring internal life to the real world. When her aging grandfather, who was among the first black NASA engineers, is beset by unspecified trouble, Ebony is sent from her affluent Alabama family to stay with her working-class father in Harlem, which she calls "No Joke City." Homesick, named "Ice Cream Sandwich" by her peers ("Chocolate on the outside, vanilla on the inside"), and sporting superhero T-shirts, Ebony finds it impossible to fit in with neighborhood girls interested in double Dutch and Dapper Dan's. Instead, she uses her "imagination location" to create tales about rescuing her grandfather, the audacious Captain Fleet, a storyline illustrated in occasional unattributed comic strips. Ebony-Grace's behaviors present as neurodiverse, though this is never labeled in the text. The girl eventually learns "to see a place with new eyes," but underdeveloped subplots about her grandfather and her father's brother hamper Ebony-Grace's exploration of her second home. Even so, Zoboi (American Street) excels at resurrecting 1980s Harlem in her middle grade debut, expertly sprinkling in nostalgia-fueled references to break dancing, rap battles, and the rise of female MCs. Ages 10-up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 4-7—A story about imagination and trying to fit in, set in 1980s Harlem. Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet leaves her mother and beloved, ill grandfather in Alabama and touches down in busy New York City to visit her father. To cope with loud, crowded, and confusing surroundings, Ebony-Grace retreats into her imaginary outer space world, which she has created with her grandfather. Unfortunately, Ebony-Grace's peers are not interested in pretending to be space captains—not even her sometimes-friend, Bianca—and she is mocked. But Ebony-Grace continues to pretend that she is E-Grace Starfleet on a mission in No Joke City to defeat the Sonic King and rescue Captain Fleet. At the story's climax, Ebony-Grace steals an envelope of money from her father and inexplicably uses it to equip Bianca's Double Dutch crew with new clothes and an entrance fee to compete at the Apollo Theater, connecting these actions with her mission. This theft causes a rift between her father and uncle, and they come to blows. Short graphic panels depicting Ebony-Grace's eye-catching imaginary space world interrupt the story periodically to engage readers. Ebony-Grace's voice is both young and incredibly socially awkward; readers may spend the narrative waiting for a big reveal as to why she acts both paranoid and much younger than her chronological age while being unable to leave her "imagination location" to preserve any social grace. For example, Ebony-Grace often speaks into an imaginary communicator, has a running commentary about being on a space mission, blasts kids with an imaginary weapon on her wrists when she doesn't get her way, accuses her father of putting mind control poison in her food, and thinks that the loud sounds of the city are sonic booms. Young readers may also have trouble grasping the 1980s references, which seem more suited to an adult audience. VERDICT Recommended for libraries that have a strong Ibi Zoboi readership, though the audience will be different here.—Shannon O'Connor, Unami Middle School, Chalfont, PA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

A New York Times Bestseller

"[Ebony-Grace's] boundless faith in her dreams also brings to mind another high-flying science enthusiast who once advised, 'Never be limited by other people's imaginations.' That speaker was Mae C. Jemison, an engineer, medical doctor, astronaut, and the first African American woman to go into space."—New York Times Book Review

A BookExpo Editor Buzz Selection

"Filled with rich imaginative scenes and comics-style illustrations, this book will truly transport its readers to another world."—Booklist

"Highlights the importance of imagination and learning to celebrate what it means to be different in a world that demands conformity."—Horn Book