by Candice Iloh
First published 2024
Cerulean Gene enters senior year with their friends, all determined to survive their classes and escape the Bronx after graduation. The pandemic is behind them, but their teachers force them to read books like Huckleberry Finn while showing little care for their students. Cerulean dreams of self-sufficiency and teaches themselves to grow food, convinced that somewhere better exists beyond their neighborhood. Their father suffers severe burns in a workplace fire, leaving the family struggling financially and emotionally. The accident destroys Cerulean's carefully laid plans for the future. They must navigate burned-out educators who offer no support while shouldering new responsibilities at home. The weight of keeping their family stable crashes down on them. What once seemed like a clear path out now feels impossible. Cerulean faces the tension between their desire for freedom and their duty to those they love most.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, young-adult, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, overcoming-adversity
Setting: Bronx
Period: senior-year
288 pages · Paperback · Dutton Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: depression