Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
Like The Hate U Give, this book explores the perspective of a young black woman in contemporary America. Also like that more famous book, this novel features a ripped-from-the-headlines assault by police upon a young black person.
Of course, the comparison is, at the outset, unfair, a sign that the perspective provided in Piecing Me Together is too rare; it is the same impulse that compels reviewers to compare any novel by a Native American to a work by Sherman Alexie or Louise Erdrich.
Then again, the parallels between the books are real. Piecing Me Together tells the story of Jade, a young black woman who lives in an underprivileged section of Portland, Oregon. Like the main character of The Hate U Give, Jade is straddling two worlds: She has a scholarship to a fancy Portland private school but lives in North Portland, where she maintains her only true friendships.
But there is something I found more compelling about this book. Where the inner turmoil in The Hate U Give is precipitated by the main character witnessing police brutality, the racism Jade encounters is much more "subtle" -- that is, easier for the white characters in the book, and perhaps the reader, to overlook. The rage Jade feels at the racism around her is simmering long before a police beating of an unarmed black woman boils it over. In this sense, the story is more universal, just like Jade's response. She does not, like the main character of The Hate U Give, face a high-stakes moment of truth in which she must choose to stand up for what is right. Instead, Jade faces the choice most of us face. She can easily do nothing. No one would fault her for it or even notice. Or she can try something. Of course, she chooses the latter. And she does it through art. In this way, Piecing Me Together sends the message that we all can do something to stand up for the rights of all people.
