I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by Kimberly JonesGilly Segal
on August 6, 2019
Genres: Diversity & Multicultural, Friendship, Prejudice & Racism, Social Themes, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Source: Personal Library

The New York Times Bestseller!
"An absolute page turner, I'm Not Dying with You Tonight is a compelling and powerful novel that is sure to make an impact. " —Angie Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give
An NAACP Image Award Nominee, I'm Not Dying with You Tonight follows two teen girls—one black, one white—who have to confront their own assumptions about racial inequality as they rely on each other to get through the violent race riot that has set their city on fire with civil unrest.
Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she's going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school.
When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together.
They aren't friends. They hardly understand the other's point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they're going to survive the night.
This book is perfect for:

Sparking conversations about prejudice and the racial tension that exists in America
Parents and educators looking for multicultural and African American books for teens
Fans of Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, and Jason Reynolds

Additional Praise for I'm Not Dying with You Tonight:"A vital addition to the YA race relations canon." —Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin
"An astounding achievement. This novel is an incendiary experience, one that does not shy away from difficult questions about privilege and violence. But Jones and Segal don't hold our hands to provide us easy answers; this is a book meant to be devoured in a single sitting and discussed for years to come." —Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift
"I'm Not Dying With You Tonight is a powerful examination of privilege, and how friends are often found in surprising places. Jones and Segal have penned a page-turning debut, as timely as it is addictive." —David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite

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This was another book I read for the Barnes & Noble YA Book Club. I have to say, it was completely different than what we thought it was going to be. Somehow, we got the idea it was going to be some sort of post-apocalyptic or dystopian thing. Instead, we got a very real look, in fiction form, at reality.

Campbell is a white girl from Pennsylvania who has been tossed into a high school in Georgia city. Lena is a black girl who’s lived her whole life in this Georgia city and knows full well how the police and everyone else there sees black people.

During the course of the book, Lena calls Campbell on her naivety when it comes to how the police and black people get along in their city. She calls Campbell on her views about black people. But Campbell calls Lena on her own views about white people.

Campbell is naive when it comes to how other races are profiled and she makes assumptions about the black people she lives around. There is no mistake about that. But her assumptions come more from what her father has said than from her own experiences with those people. Just a reminder that racism is learned/taught, not something people are born with.

Lena, however, is just as bad. She has her assumptions about white people – such as that they are rich. Again, she’s been taught that white people are the way she thinks they are.

The riots in the book are realistic. They are taken almost directly from the news media. They show how things are. They show how even white people can be pulled in and how they can end up seeing things from a different perspective.

There is one things that bugs me about this book – Black. That boy needs a swift kick in the butt. The literal only time he really, truly has Lena’s back is toward the end of the book. I won’t say why/how, because that would be a spoiler. But I will say, I’ll be surprised if you like him. None of us at the book club did.

I gave this book 5 stars because it is a gripping book. It may be slow to start, but that was more of being used to hearing people talk like Lena does rather than reading it. But once you get into the action portions, you’ll forget all about Lena’s style of speaking and be totally sucked in, wondering what will happen.

I think fans of The Hate U Give will really like this book.