Dark Parts of the Universe

This mystery thriller by Miller (Redemption Prep), based on real accounts of sundown towns, or all-white municipalities, is replete with twists and long-awaited reckonings. High school freshman William “Willie” Eckles describes his Calico Springs, Mo., hometown as a place where “people believe in God.” After almost dying as a child, Willie was dubbed “Miracle Boy” by Calico Springs locals, and he’s certain that God has a plan for him. He’s eager to spend the summer with his older brother Bones, a recent graduate, even as tensions rise throughout town surrounding all-white Calico Springs’s imminent merge with Lawton, a predominantly Black neighborhood. But Willie’s plans are derailed when he and new friend Sarai Lewis—guided by a tracking app called Manifest Atlas, which provides directions to an unknown location based on the user’s provided “intention”—discover Sarai’s stepfather’s corpse. As Willie contends with his parents’ separation and Bones’s controlling behavior, he stumbles onto mysterious forces seemingly determined to keep the towns apart. A lack of focus on Lawton residents somewhat dampens Miller’s powerful depiction of Willie’s awakening to his community’s deep-rooted racism. Effective use of fictional newspaper articles, message boards, and testimonies establish the history of Calico Springs, and violent scenes are tempered by evocative and lyrical prose. Most characters are white; Sarai is Black. Ages 13–up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Apr.)