Powder Necklace

February 22, 2010
When her single mother “needs a break,” London teenager Lila is sent to school in Ghana. Once at Dadaba Girls' Secondary School, Lila finds herself fending for a place among an unforgiving physical and emotional climate. Just as Lila is learning to appreciate the unusual joys of her new home, however, Lila's mother, having found a new boyfriend and a new home, yanks her back to London. Though Lila gets back to school, lands a job, and finds a boyfriend, she's once again shipped off, this time to live with her father in New York. Brew-Hammond uses sensual language to drop readers into each of Lila's strange new settings, crafting vivid portraits of dislocation and discovery. Though the evangelical undertones may turn off some readers and Lila's mom's issues (her aggression, her refusal to let Lila make any decisions for herself) are left largely unaddressed, the beauty of the prose and the resilience of the heroine make this a winning debut.

February 15, 2010
A teenage girl spends short stints in London, Ghana and the United States with various family members.

Lila, 15, lives with her divorced mother in London. Her absent father has his own family in the States, leaving Lila and her mother to lean heavily on each other for company and support. This makes her mother's sudden decision to ship Lila off to Ghana and unload her onto Auntie Irene all the more shocking. Lila's mother proves to be selfish, immature, impossible to empathize with and difficult to believe in as a character. Lila's time at Ghanaian boarding school is striking—details like the struggle to find drinking water, eating before flies settle on the food and learning to sweep with a reed broom paint a true picture of African life. Unfortunately, just as we are settling into the developing world, Lila is called back to London. Just as quickly, she is sent to the States for an odd Disneyland vacation with her father and his Christian sing-along family, who are strangers to Lila. Time and again Lila is uprooted so quickly that the narrative cannot keep up emotionally. The effort to depict people and places seems wasted, as each time we become invested in a place and a lifestyle, we are promptly plucked out and moved. Though this mirrors Lila's efforts to comprehend her kaleidoscope life, readers will only find themselves rushed, not pensive, and left without any literary or emotional payoff. Lila's narrative is a mix of tragedies and blessings, but the end is wrapped up in a neat, barely credible ribbon that is tied just as hastily as the book's other chapters. Readers will recognize that Lila has been given short shrift by the adults in her unstable life, but they may never figure out the reason for journeying with her.

Interesting vignettes, but this novel never feels whole. Though billed as women's fiction, the book will be of more interest to younger readers.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2010
This debut novel is based loosely on the author's experiences. Lila, the teenage daughter of divorced parents from Ghana, lives in London with her mother until she is sent to an all-girls' boarding school in Ghana. Gradually, Lila adjusts to that country's harsh environment while struggling to fit in and make friends. The book's title derives from the girls' practice of powdering their necks to demonstrate they were lucky or wealthy enough to have parents send them extra water for bathing. Six years pass before Lila returns to London, but she is immediately sent to live with her father and his new family in the United States in another emotional and physical upheaval for the young woman. Ultimately, Lila begins to come to terms with being part of a blended family that spans both continents and cultures. VERDICT With its strong character development, this work presents a fresh and diverse alternative to the standard coming-of-age story. The author's insightful depiction of Lila's plight and appealing international point of view could whet the appetite of the YA audience. Recommended for readers who enjoyed Edwidge Danticat's "Breath, Eyes, Memory" or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "Purple Hibiscus".Faye A. Chadwell, Oregon State Univ. Lib., Corvallis

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2010
Far from the classic finding-your-roots story, this contemporary debut novel about a British teens return to her parents Ghana homeland is unsettling drama, with no clear coming home, and that is what makes the wry, honest first-person narrative so memorable and so surprising. Growing up in London with her divorced mother, Lila, 15, is caught doing drugs and chasing boys, so Mum sends her to a girls boarding-school in Ghana. She hates it there, especially the lack of running water, the filth, and the flies, though she does make some very dear friends (and enemies). When Mum suddenly summons her back, Lila feels a mix of anger, relief, and sorrow. But then her dad sends for her, and she visits with his family in Manhattan, after a wild trip to Disneyland. So where is home? Does she want to be the English girl or the exotic girl from Ghana? The writer clearly draws on her own American Ghanaian identity to dramatize the hardship and the rich diversity of a multicultural heritage.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)