We Are All So Good at Smiling

November 21, 2022
McBride, the author of Me (Moth), employs lilting poetic wordplay to weave familiar fairy tales with original, resonant fables in this haunting verse novel. When human poet Whimsy is hospitalized with clinical depression, she meets and immediately connects with a Fae boy named Faerry. After getting discharged, she learns that Faerry has just moved into a house on Whimsy’s street and soon realizes their intense familiarity hints at a shared past that neither of them seems to remember. Working together to unearth buried memories, the teens battle a fantastical physical embodiment of sorrow and struggle to face their inexplicable fear of the forest at the end of their street. Sparse yet expressive verse (“We are floating in a circle/ made from hope & crystal wings”) grounds mystical happenings, such as Whimsy and Faerry’s meetings with characters from classic fairy tales and folklore, including Anansi, Baba Yaga, and Snow White. Drawing from personal experience, as detailed in a beginning note, McBride delivers a dark, whimsical adventure that viscerally depicts experiences of clinical depression, generational trauma, racism, self-harm, suicidal
ideation, and survivor’s guilt. A glossary of the fairy tales referenced concludes. Whimsy and Faerry are Black. Ages 14–17. Agent: Rena Rossner, Deborah Harris Agency.

Starred review from January 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-After her parents discover a list Whimsy wrote of ways to stop breathing, she is in the hospital again for clinical depression. She meets fellow patient Faerry, a boy who she perceives as having magical qualities. They subsequently discover they are neighbors, connecting over their intense poetry and their shared experience of being the only two Black kids around. No one understands they are sinking while they are smiling; when you are bruise-less, things are harder to explain. As they begin their healing journey together, they recognize their lives are interwoven by past trauma. The atmospheric imagery and metaphors throughout have such a strong and remarkable undercurrent in this novel-in-verse. The anthropomorphic forest evolves into setting as character. As Whimsy and Faerry push through the forest garden together, they face their demons as part of intricate and unique fairy-tale sequences that represent their layers of depression. Raw and fervent, these characters are cut open literally and figuratively to battle Sorrow, because the only way out is through. Hoodoo is intertwined as they unravel riddles to find the truth and the cause of their shared trauma. The author's prologue invites readers into her own authentic experiences with depression, offers a nod to Lucille Clifton, and provides a content warning for clinical depression, self-harm, and suicide. McBride also features resources for mental health, a glossary of the fairy tales and folklore embodied within, and a playlist for Whimsy and Faerry. VERDICT This phenomenal novel-in-verse transports readers into an impassioned tale of heartache and hope that belongs on every bookshelf serving teens.-Lisa Krok

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2022
Being hospitalized again for suicidal ideation is a bleak situation for anyone, especially Whimsy, a girl with the soul of a poet. Waiting to go home to parents struggling to connect with her (her older brother has been missing for a decade) and a school where she is one of few Black students, a bright spot appears in Whimsy's life. Green-haired Faerry--former fellow patient, new neighbor, and an actual Fae--befriends her. After he is lost in the Forest near her home, Whimsy sets off to find him and enters a garden populated by folklore and fairy-tale figures. A witch, a siren, a princess, and ghosts challenge and help her as she and Faerry struggle to escape Sorrow, the sinister entity keeping them from finding their way home. The choice of verse to tell this absorbing story is a strong one; readers are drawn along by the intense and vivid imagery, and the depictions of clinical depression, guilt, and grief are visceral. McBride explores the impact of the intersection between Blackness and mental illness on Faerry and Whimsy and the difficulties of two unusual young people finding refuge through friendship from the pressures the world exerts on them. Whimsy's practice of Hoodoo and the empowerment she receives from the magic inside and around her help her contend with her depression and unravel her grief without negating a brutal, yet ultimately hopeful, reality. Important messages uniquely delivered. (foreword, author's note, resources, glossary, playlist) (Verse novel. 12-18)

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Starred review from January 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Whimsy has once again succumbed to the weight of her clinical depression, the grief of some half-obscured memory sending her into a spiral of sorrow that lingers in a way it doesn't for her mother and father. Separated from her parents, the soil that sustains her, and the beckoning forest edge that claims her tears, Whimsy finds herself in a rehabilitation program where she meets a fae-boy, whose body boasts an eerily familiar garden, wings that catch the light, and a closeness to her she can't quite explain. When Faerry disappears into the very forest that has for years been the center of Whimsy's sadness, she knows that the only way to save Faerry, and for them to both get out, is a journey through. In her stunning tale of grief, sorrow, and the difficult journey toward healing and reconciliation, McBride expertly weaves elements of fairy tale, fantasy, and Hoodoo into stunning free-verse poetry that explores the intricacies of mourning as a sustained yet ever evolving space for sadness that so often we may feel compelled to suppress. The emphasis on fairy tales and flora is an added treat, offering a new perspective on familiar narrative elements. Readers will revel in the depth of Whimsy and Faerry's relationship, all the while finding solace and relief in the calculated messiness of their search for wholeness. This is a spitfire sophomore offering from McBride, one that refuses to be rushed, mishandled, or misinterpreted.

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January 1, 2023
This ambitious novel in verse uses magical realism and fairy-tale elements to explore clinical depression and highlight the various stages of grief. Whimsy is back at the hospital again, where she has been forced to go numerous times since she was diagnosed with clinical depression. She recognizes the sadness and grief she feels, and she knows numerous coping mechanisms to manage her feelings, but she still struggles daily with her (gradually revealed) trauma. Although she is used to the hospital routine, this visit is different because she meets Faerry, a boy who knows sorrow that mirrors her own. Their bond is strengthened after their release from the facility, and together they decide to help each other cope with the pain that affects them both. When Faerry enters the Haunting Forest, a sinister plot of land that feeds on pain, Whimsy follows. If they cannot make it through, sorrow might swallow them whole, leaving nothing but death in its wake. McBride's (Me (Moth), rev. 1/22) lush free-verse poetry creates a vibrant world teetering between the real and the magical, but the images and atmosphere act as background to serious issues of trauma and suicidality. Although the subject matter is heavy, the book serves as a reminder that, as sorrow and loss come for everyone, no one is alone. Back matter addresses mental health and expands on the story's elements from fairy tales and folklore.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)