Split the Sky by Marie Arnold
Lala, 15, absolutely agrees with social justice and the goals of her school’s Black Alliance Club. But she’s tired of fighting these fights and doesn’t want to join in; instead, she wants to focus her efforts on her passion for music and for getting out of her small town.
Something else about Lala: she has the same gift her grandmother has to see visions of the future. Those visions are almost always what happens.
Lala has a vision in her small Texas sundown town of a Black boy being shot by a white homeowner amid calls for better diversifying the community. She’s got to find that boy and protect him.
There’s a hitch, though. Lala’s grandma is also seeing visions, but they’re about what happens in the wake of that boy’s murder. The entire community will see protests and change, resulting in the kind of inclusive future they’re all fighting for. But this vision won’t come true if anything along the way is altered, putting Lala into an impossible place. Does she help save the boy in her vision or not, knowing either way will alter the course of their town’s future. — Kelly Jensen