I'll have to go back and note the quote about things you have to carry, as I've read that part a few days after losing someone unexpectedly. In the book, it is about a more complicated kind of grief, but I could relate nonetheless.

I'm impressed at how the stories starts like a casual teenager being teenager story, and it then blooms into this commentary about race, motherhood, ethics, becoming an adult your younger self wouldn't have approved of, and such.

I'm going to check other books from this author. I'm not a big contemporary gal, but with this level of quality, I'm down.