"The word hype was invented to describe books like this." --Refinery29
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.
On sale: September 10, 2019
Age: 12 and up
Grade: Grade 7 & Up
Page count: 208 Pages
ISBN: 9780525647072
Reading level: Lexile: 820L
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.
“A
unique science fiction tale.” –
Essence
"Brilliant." –
The Washington Post"With
great tenderness,
Pet questions a society silenced by denial." –
Observer
“By far the most striking of the [National Book Award] finalists is PET,
a sinister morality tale by Akwaeke Emezi.”
–The Wall Street Journal “
A riveting and timely work answering the questions about how you go about the world when the world around you is in denial.”
–Out Magazine"
This soaring novel shoots for the stars and explodes the sky with its
bold brilliance." —
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"
A compelling, nuanced tale that fans of speculative horror will quickly devour."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred 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
“Jam is also notable as a Black, trans protagonist in this
important narrative that teens will want to read to gain some perspective on the modern political environment.”
—The Bulletin, Starred Review
"Emezi’s characters are diverse in race, physical ability and especially gender.... Readers might see in Jam’s surroundings a version of a world that they, like Jam, might choose to fight for." —
BookPage, Starred Review
“A
haunting and poetic work of speculative fiction.” —
The Horn Book
