Best YA Contemporary read in 2022

f I had to make an analogy, I would say that The Silence that Binds Us felt like “The Hate U Give”, “A Very Large Expanse of Sea” and “With the Fire on High” all rolled into one book.

The Hate U Give because racism is one of the main if not the main focus of the book paired up with having the courage to talk.
After May’s brother died by suicide and a “rich powerful white guy” Nate McIntyre putting the blame on May’s parent for their son’s death, May is…enraged.
That Silicon Valley mogul is basically blaming the Asian parents for the wave of teen suicide their community has experienced.
Not only is that family going through an awful time but to add salt to injury, Nat McIntyre is accusing May’s parents to be responsible for their son’s death!
That will have May retaliate in the Sequoya Weekly because her words are swords. And she wants people to know the truth about Danny, about her family and their story. #TakeBacktheNarrative
But pretty quickly, things will escalate and it will really put May on the spot and have her decide what is right: talking and taking back the narrative for all POC communities or staying silent and protecting her family?

A Very Large Expanse of Sea because of the stigma put on a single community. It’s easier to put the finger at someone than look into the mirror.
Also all the stories about May’s grandparents, what they had to go through, how they escaped their countries to go live in the US in the hope of a better future was enlightening and also reminiscent of what I read in AVELOS.
We forget too often that immigrants are not leaving their countries to steal our jobs but rather to save their lives. In their shoes, we’d do the same.

And it reminds me of “With the Fire on High” because of all the food!
It seems that mothers, Asian or Haitian both show their love through their food. Also making sure their children never get cold.

With a fluid writing, Joanna Ho has built a strong cast to lift that story of fight against prejudice, racism, forgotten stories, depression and grief. She broke my heart and in one strong swipe, gave it back to me.