Me (Moth)
(National Book Award Finalist)

Name: Me (Moth)
Brand: Macmillan Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Amber McBride
ISBN: 9781250861719

Author: Amber McBride

Narrator: Amber McBride

Unabridged: 3 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Published: 11/02/2021

Categories: Young Adult Fiction, Ghost Stories, Diversity & Multicultural, Novels In Verse, African American & Black Fiction

Synopsis

"This magical audiobook echoes the desire to truly understand yourself and be seen as you are, and the twist ending will leave listeners stunned." -AudioFile Magazine

This program is read by the author.

A debut YA novel-in-verse by Amber McBride, Me (Moth) is about a teen girl who is grieving the deaths of her family, and a teen boy who crosses her path.

Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and uprooted.

Until she meets Sani, a boy who is also searching for his roots. If he knows more about where he comes from, maybe he’ll be able to understand his ongoing depression. And if Moth can help him feel grounded, then perhaps she too will discover the history she carries in her bones.

Moth and Sani take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors. The way each moves forward is surprising, powerful, and unforgettable.

Here is an exquisite and uplifting novel about identity, first love, and the ways that our memories and our roots steer us through the universe.

A Macmillan audio production from Feiwel & Friends

About Amber McBride

Amber McBride estimates she reads about 100 books a year. Her work has been published in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Provincetown Arts. Her debut young adult novel, Me (Moth) was a finalist for the National Book Award, and won the 2022 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, among many other accolades. She is a professor of creative writing at University of Virginia, and lives in Charlottesville, Virgina.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Shawna on November 25, 2021

TW// (view spoiler)[ racism, physical abuse, bullying (hide spoiler)] I only got into books written in verse last year and each one has been super impactful in my life. This one was no exception. Me (Moth) follows a young girl named Moth who tragically lost her family in a car crash. As she struggles with grief and feeling guilty......more

Goodreads review by Ally on October 09, 2020

I was lucky enough to read a copy of this book and let me tell you, you're not ready. Amber's writing is surreal and magical and she will break your heart in the best possible way. Point being: you're gonna cry......more

Goodreads review by Brittany on June 07, 2023

This was beautiful, and dare I say poignant? This was a revelation in narrative poetry storytelling. The images were vivid, and the narrative voices were strong. The reveal was spectacularly done. Bravo, Amber McBride. I stand up in ovation for this great literary work. 5 Stars.......more

Goodreads review by FloeticFlo on September 29, 2021

Wow. Beautiful writing, I learned so much about Najavo myths and creation stories as well as Hoodoo. And that ending though!!! The novel in verse style makes this story a breeze to keep turning the pages and may draw in reluctant readers, too.......more

Goodreads review by Caitlin on November 18, 2021

Thanks to Edelweiss for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ...which you the readers are probably not gonna like very much. Okay... Listen. Rating an OwnVoices book low has absolutely no reflection on me as a person. Anyone with their hackles up can take a deep breath. Merely glimpse at my shelves......more

Quotes

"This searing debut novel-in-verse is told from the perspective of Moth, a Black teen whose life changed forever the day a car crash killed her family. ... Each free verse poem is tightly composed, leading into the next for a poignant and richly layered narrative. The story builds softly and subtly to a perfect, bittersweet ending. Fans of Jacqueline Woodson won’t be able to put this one down."—School Library Journal, starred review

"McBride artfully weaves Black Southern Hoodoo traditions with those of the Navajo/Diné people, creating a beautiful and cross-cultural reverence for the earth, its inhabitants, and our ancestors. Readers will be consumed with the weight of McBride’s intentionality from road trip stops to the nuance of everything that goes unsaid. Written in verse, this novel is hauntingly romantic, refusing to be rushed or put down without deep contemplation of what it means to accept the tragedies of our lives and to reckon with the ways we metamorphosize as a result of them." —Booklist, starred review

"If you think you know where this story is going, think again. Me (Moth) will surprise you." —BookPage, starred review

"Written in gorgeous verse, Moth's painful story of heartbreak, connection, and learning to love again unfolds, thanks to a soul connection with cool guy Sani."—Girls Life Magazine

"With unmatched lyrical writing and a powerful plot, McBride is an absolute must-read author."—Buzzfeed

"Two years after a devastating car accident killed her family as they drove from New York to northern Virginia, aspiring dancer Moth, the Black granddaughter of a Hoodoo root worker, is still navigating the accident’s fallout, which includes a mark on her face “as crisp as the tip of a whip from jaw to eye.” Poignant free verse details her resignation to a “bland” existence in the suburbs....When a new student—talented Navajo musician Sani—shows up in her junior homeroom class, Moth finds a kindred spirit whose similarly painful past and physically abusive stepfather compound his depression." —Publishers Weekly

"Recommended. McBride writes Moth’s narration in spare, wistful free verse that reads like Francesca Lia Block in poetry or a fragile, emotional E. E. Cummings; Moth’s pain at being “the guilty girl who lived” is keen and haunting, and the frequent evocation of her grandfather, a spiritual rootworker, adds a supernatural flavor. ... Readers may not see the poignant final twist coming, but it’s a satisfying climactic development that will leave them dabbing their eyes and turning to their own art in hope and gratitude." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB)

"Me (Moth) holds you like a gentle haint, pulling you in and out of song, and dance, and dreams until you are not sure where reality ends and memory begins. Amber McBride in her young adult debut has written a marvelous novel in verse full of ancestor wisdom and love that traverses crossroads that we must navigate to live."—Joanne V. Gabbin, Director, Furious Flower Poetry Center

Awards

Shelf Awareness Best Books of the Year
NPR Best Book of the Year
School Library Best Books of the Year
YALSA William C. Morris - finalist
National Book Awards - Longlist
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
Minneapolis Star Tribune Holiday Book Recommendations
Coretta Scott King Honor, Author