Well I guarantee this will be a celebrity book club pick. My moneys on Jenna, probably.
Set in the suburbs of San Francisco, Natalie Baszile tells the story of two longtime friends whose lives have become deeply intertwined. Babs is Black and the mother of a teenage daughter, Reese. Nora is white and the adoptive mother of a Black teenage son, Nathan. When the police are called while the teens are home alone, a traumatic encounter forces both families to confront the event—and everything that led up to it—from very different perspectives.
This is, first and foremost, a novel about friendship, but it’s equally a novel about race, privilege, parenting, and the ways our identities shape both how we move through the world and how the world responds to us. Baszile doesn’t offer easy answers or tidy resolutions. Instead, she invites readers into uncomfortable conversations that feel honest and deeply human.
As a middle-aged white woman, I want to read books like this. For far too long, much of publishing has presented stories about race in ways that allow white readers to remain comfortable. Fiction has the power to build empathy, challenge assumptions, and help us understand experiences beyond our own. That isn’t always an easy process, and this novel never pretends otherwise.
Despite the weight of its subject matter, the characters are what stayed with me. Babs and Nora are richly drawn, but it was the supporting cast that truly elevated the novel for me. Babs’s husband is one of my favorite characters I’ve read this year—steady, compassionate, and wonderfully written. The teenagers, especially Nathan, feel authentic in ways that many adult authors struggle to capture.
The writing reminded me of books like Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, while also carrying the issue-driven emotional weight of many of Jodi Picoult’s novels. It’s the kind of story that sparks conversation long after you’ve finished reading, making it an outstanding choice for book clubs.
Content warnings: racism, racial trauma, and a traumatic police encounter involving teenagers.
Rating: ★★★★¼ (4.25/5)
Expected publication: October 6, 2026.
Thank you to Pamela Dorman Books for providing an advanced reading copy.
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