Maia's Reviews > No Ivy League

Hazel grew up white, middle-class, vegan, and home-schooled in Portland, OR. Lacking a social circle outside other home-schooled teens, Hazel had no idea how sheltered she was until she started a summer job pulling invasive English ivy out of parks in youth nature summer program. For the first time, Hazel worked along side teens from different schools, races, backgrounds and with different goals. It's a rude awakening, but ultimately an enlightening one. Newlevant (the author now uses they/them pronouns) hasn't cut themself any slack, and their honesty leads to a story which is at turns humorous and uncomfortable, but always compelling. I picked up an advanced reader copy at BookExpo 2019, which is printed in black and white. The final volume will be printed with ivy-green washes, highlighting the nuanced watercolors. This is an important, timely, and engaging story and I can't wait for its official release! Full disclosure, the author and I share a publisher and we are friends :)