She Drinks the Light

Angoe (Behind These Four Walls, for adults) leverages Ghanaian vampire lore to conjure an emotionally rich fantasy novel set on Golden Isle, a fictional private island off the coast of South Carolina. Eighteen-year-old Addae is destined to inherit her nana Ama’s role as caretaker of the island and matriarch to the Kinfolk, descendants of formerly enslaved Black people. To continue the family legacy, Addae must claim her ancestral gifts, but after years of trying and failing to access the full scope of her powers, she questions whether she’ll ever be able to fulfill her birthright. When her best friend, Naria, goes missing and is soon presumed dead, Addae defies Nana’s warning to avoid the mainland and travels there seeking answers to Naria’s disappearance. In her YA debut, Angoe demonstrates skillful command of tension and suspense. Robust depictions of identity exploration, the fallout of long buried secrets, and the cost of survival intertwine with layered interpretations of West African folktales and Black history in the U.S., resulting in a fresh, culturally resonant take on the vampire genre. Ages 13–up. Agent: Melissa Edwards, Stonesong Literary. (Mar.)