I Rise

Name: I Rise
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Marie Arnold
ISBN: 9780358669326

Author: Marie Arnold

Narrator: Marcella Cox

Unabridged: 7 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Clarion Books

Published: 08/02/2022

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Social Themes, African American & Black Stories

Synopsis

A heartbreaking and powerful novel about racism and social justice as fourteen-year-old Ayo has to decide whether to take on her mother's activist role when her mom is shot by police. As she tries to find answers, Ayo looks to the wisdom of her ancestors and her Harlem community for guidance.Ayo's mother founded the biggest civil rights movement to hit New York City in decades. It’s called ‘See Us’ and it tackles police brutality and racial profiling in Harlem. Ayo has spent her entire life being an activist and now, she wants out. She wants to get her first real kiss, have a boyfriend, and just be a normal teen.When her mom is put into a coma after a riot breaks out between protesters and police, protestors want Ayo to become the face of See Us and fight for justice for her mother who can no longer fight for herself. While she deals with her grief and anger, Ayo must also discover if she has the strength to take over where her mother left off.This impactful and unforgettable novel takes on the important issues of inequality, systemic racism, police violence, and social justice.

About Marie Arnold

Marie Arnold was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, and came to America at the age of seven. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York alongside her extended family. Marie enjoys creating stories full of adventure and wonder that center on girls of color. When she’s not writing, she’s adding to her insanely long Netflix queue and trying not to order pizza. She lives in Los Angeles, California. She is the author of The Year I Flew Away and I Rise.

Reviews

Goodreads review by ♥Milica♥ on August 07, 2022

My mother is a Maya Angelou poem. She’s all pride and all grace; sometimes, I swear she doesn’t actually walk, she glides. And God help you if you come into the room after her. No one remembers you were ever there. One of the rare few books where I actually like the parent more than the main characte......more

Goodreads review by Molly on August 06, 2022

How do you review a book that leaves you speechless yet empowered with the need to use your voice like never before? ‘I rise’ is a gripping, emotional and educative coming of age story following Ayo - a young, Black activist in Harlem, New York City, as she grapples with the realities of being a tee......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on January 20, 2024

A North Star YA Award nominee for 23|24. Ago is struggling with her place within her mother’s Civil Rights organization, See Us. She just wants to be a normal teenager, who worries about school, and boys and television shows, not the institutionalized racism and the struggle of the Black population.......more

Goodreads review by Richie on April 25, 2022

Richie’s Picks: I RISE by Marie Arnold, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Versify, August 2022, 320p., ISBN: 978-0-358-44904-1 “Black rage is founded on two-thirds a person Rapings and beatings and suffering that worsens Black human packages tied up with strings Black rage can come from all these kinds of thing......more

Goodreads review by Marilu on November 10, 2021

What else can I see, but it broke my heart and made it soar at the same time. There is sadness and justified anger, but also a hope for change. A hope that we could all stand together to fight the oppression that is fractured in our communities. Many thanks to the author and to NetGalley for my ARC......more