- Ariel H.
- Thursday, June 23, 2022
Nic Stone is hands down one of the best writers of this century. I’m aware that’s saying a lot, but it’s the truth. When a writer is able to effectively transport you and take you on a journey that has a lot of emotional turmoil attached to it from centuries of generational pain and trauma, and attach humor, education, and healing all-in-one…you deserve to don that title.
In Clean Getaway, we take a journey through the past through the eyes of an 11-year-old Black boy named William, who goes by his nickname Scoob, short for Scooby-Doo. Scoob is dealing with some growing pains at school, at home with his dad, and with his estranged mother. Around this time, he learns of G’ma’s (his grandmother and dad’s mom) impromptu road trip.
G’ma sold her home and belongings to buy an RV and take a road trip to finally conclude some unfinished business. The pair of them find themselves on a journey of healing and understanding. A trip they both needed.
On this trip you learn about G’ma’s past struggles as a White woman married to a Black man. She talks about their journey as a couple and the green book, and even discusses the good and bad things they witnessed. She shares their concerns and even some secrets her own son doesn’t know.
This book covers so many topics. It’s a great family conversational piece. The journeys the characters went on brought healing—healing of the soul. Stone touched on so much in one book, which is also why I have so much appreciation for this novel. Interracial marriage. Generational curses, burdens, and pain. Grief and Regret. Family and Loyalty. Manhood and Parenthood. These are just a few I wanted to highlight, but there’s so much more I could cover. Which is why I said what I said.
Nic Stone is needed. Her words and stories, our stories, are needed.
I must warn you that she will have you in the palm of your hands with this novel. So, prepare yourself, but in the end, she makes a clean getaway.
Clean Getaway
Nic Stone
For the life of him, William "Scoob" Lamar can't seem to stay out of trouble--and now the run-ins at school have led to lockdown at home. So when G'ma, Scoob's favorite person on Earth, asks him to go on an impromptu road trip, he's in the RV faster than he can say FREEDOM. With G'ma's old maps and a strange pamphlet called the 'Travelers' Green Book' at their side, the pair takes off on a journey down G'ma's memory lane. But adventure quickly turns to uncertainty: G'ma keeps changing the license plate, dodging Scoob's questions, and refusing to check Dad's voice mails. And the father they go, the more Scoob realizes that the world hasn't always been a welcoming place for kids like him, and things aren't always what they seem--G'ma included.
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