Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

“Emira realized that Briar probably didn’t know how to say good-bye because she’d never had to do it before. But whether she said good-bye or not, Briar was about to become a person who existed without Emira. She’d go to sleepovers with girls she met at school, and she’d have certain words that she’d always forget how to spell. She’d be a person who sometimes said things like, “Seriously?” or “That’s so funny,” and she’d ask a friend if this was her water or theirs. Briar would say good-bye in yearbook signatures and through heartbroken tears and through emails and over the phone. But she’d never say good-bye to Emira, which made it seem that Emira would never be completely free from her. For the rest of her life and for zero dollars an hour, Emira would always be Briar’s sitter” (365-366).

Such a Fun Age is such a fun book. The story follows Emira Tucker, a Black girl in her early twenties as she navigates finding her passion in life while babysitting for the Chamberlains, a rich white family. She forms a deep connection with Briar, the eldest of the two daughters, who makes remarks throughout the book that will leave you laughing out loud.

When the book comes to a shocking end, Emira knows she must say goodbye to Briar forever as she opens a new chapter in her life. I chose this quote because it perfectly displays Reid's descriptive and playful language that kept me turning the pages.