Staff Pick
This is a fast and powerful read, which I highly recommend. Emezi has created a fascinating world where monsters don’t exist anymore. Jam has believed this her whole life, until a winged creature emerges from her mother’s painting and tells her that her friend is in danger. Jam must then figure out who to trust and how best to protect the people she loves. Recommended By Jennifer H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
National Book Award Finalist
"[A] beautiful, genre-expanding debut....Pet is a nesting doll of creative possibilities." The New York Times
The highly-anticipated, genre-defying new novel by award-winning author Akwaeke Emezi that explores themes of identity and justice. Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look?
There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question — How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?
Acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi makes their riveting and timely young adult debut with a book that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.
"Like [Madeleine] L'Engle, Akwaeke Emezi asks questions of good and evil and agency, all wrapped up in the terrifying and glorious spectacle of fantastical theology." NPR
Review
"This soaring novel shoots for the stars and explodes the sky with its bold brilliance." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"A compelling, nuanced tale that fans of speculative horror will quickly devour." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"A riveting and important read that couldn't be more well timed to our society's struggles with its own monsters." School Library Journal (Starred Review)
Synopsis
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTSTONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER " A] beautiful, genre-expanding debut. . . . Pet is a nesting doll of creative possibilities." -The New York Times
The award-winning, genre-defying novel by the New York Times bestselling author of THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI that explores themes of identity and justice and asks: How do you share the truth when the world around you is in denial?
Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look?
There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with the lesson that the city is safe for everyone. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature who some might call monstrous but, in reality, is anything but, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has emerged from one of her mother's paintings to hunt a true monster--and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. No one has encountered monsters in years, though, and Jam's quest to protect her best friend and uncover the truth is met with doubt and disbelief.
This award-winning novel from a rising-star author asks: What really makes a monster, and how do you save the world from something if no one will admit it exists?
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
STONEWALL HONOR BOOK
WALTER DEAN MYERS HONOR BOOK
" A] beautiful, genre-expanding debut. . . . Pet is a nesting doll of creative possibilities." -The New York Times
"Like Madeleine] L'Engle, Akwaeke Emezi asks questions of good and evil and agency, all wrapped up in the terrifying and glorious spectacle of fantastical theology." -NPR
Synopsis
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by The New York Times - Time - Buzzfeed - NPR - New York Public Library - Publishers Weekly - School Library Journal A genre-defying novel from the award-winning author NPR describes as "like Madeline] L'Engle...glorious." A singular book that explores themes of identity and justice. Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look?
A] beautiful, genre-expanding debut --The New York Times
There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question--How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?
A riveting and timely young adult debut novel that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.
The word hype was invented to describe books like this. -Refinery29
Synopsis
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER - ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by The New York Times - Time - Buzzfeed - NPR - New York Public Library - Publishers Weekly - School Library Journal
A genre-defying novel from the award-winning author NPR describes as "like Madeline] L'Engle...glorious." A singular book that explores themes of identity and justice. Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look?
There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question--How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?
A riveting and timely young adult debut novel that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.
A] beautiful, genre-expanding debut -The New York Times
The word hype was invented to describe books like this. -Refinery29
About the Author
Akwaeke Emezi makes their young adult debut with Pet on the inaugural Make Me a World list. An honoree on the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" list, a long-list nominee for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and a short-list nominee for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, Akwaeke continues to receive accolades for their adult debut, Freshwater. The autobiographical novel also received rave reviews from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, and the Los Angeles Times, among others, as well as starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. Their sophomore adult novel, The Death of Vivek Oji, is forthcoming in 2020 from Riverhead.
Learn more about Akwaeke at Akwaeke.com or on Twitter at @azemezi.