Mercury Boys

Newly arrived with her white father in Coventon, Conn., in the aftermath of her Black mother’s affair with a younger man back home in Arizona, Saskia Brown, 16, tries hard to fit in her new high school and put the past behind her. While researching 19th-century photography pioneer Robert Cornelius and daguerreotypes for a class project, Saskia’s new friend Lila Defensor, who is Latinx, introduces her to liquid mercury, which allows Saskia to teleport herself to the past in her dreams. As Saskia’s dream life takes a vivid turn, allowing her to meet Cornelius, her daytime life serves as an engagingly normal parallel with familial drama. Soon, Saskia introduces Lila—plus Adrienne Arch and the two popular Sampras sisters, all white—to mercury and its side effects, and they each secure a daguerreotype, and a long-dead romantic interest, of their own, navigating the consequences of surreal time travel as their contemporary lives unravel. While the novel’s abrupt conclusion doesn’t fully service its fascinating concept, this well-researched speculative narrative by Prasad (Damselfly) centering history, romance, and toxic friendships will appeal. Ages 14–17. (Aug.)