[William Morrow, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2022.]

What is this book about?

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe is both a historical and coming-of-age novel. Set in 1999, the story follows four 12-year-old girls through a tumultuous summer of change. Set during the real-life demolition of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes by the Chicago Housing Authority, most of the story takes place in or around building 4950, which will soon be torn down. Twelve-year-old Felicia “Fe Fe” Stevens lives in 4950, along with her mother and teenage brother. Fe Fe and her friends, Precious and Stacia, spend their days going to school, jumping rope, and hanging out. When Fe Fe befriends Tonya, a skinny, forlorn girl with a drug addicted mother, and invites her into their circle of friends, Precious and Stacia aren’t happy.

As the summer temperatures scorch their neighborhood, trouble brews and spills into the streets. Gang wars erupt and residents endure gang shootouts and indiscriminate police violence. Fe Fe’s brother, who has managed to avoid gang life, is wrongly arrested and taken to jail. As Tonya’s beauty becomes more apparent, she can’t escape the unwanted attention of older boys. When the dynamics of Fe Fe, Precious, and Stacia’s relationships change, Fe Fe faces difficult questions about friendship and self-preservation. And as demolition day nears, Fe Fe worries about where her family will be allowed to live.

What makes this book so good?

From the first page, Wolfe’s style of prose, story-telling skills, and well-rounded characters combine to create a gripping and powerful series of events that draws the reader in and holds them throughout the book. Wolfe’s characters face crucial moments in their lives, forcing them to make tough choices in an environment that offers few options. And as her novel unfolds readers come to understand that Wolfe’s characters are complex and evolving.

Fe Fe, who narrates the story, is an adult looking back at her twelve-year-old self and her summer of seismic shifts. Wolfe creates a compelling, believable, and seamless voice for Fe Fe, who tells us a pivotal story from her youth as an adult, but at the same time as if she were still that child. I loved this weaving of Fe Fe’s voice, both young and innocent, but at the same time layered with reflection and maturity. If you’re a writer, thinking about writing a book where a character looks back at an event from their childhood, Last Summer on State Street provides an excellent model for the technique.

Why is this book important?

Wolfe’s beautifully written novel illustrates the consequences of racism and segregation against African Americans. A gripping story, skillfully told in first-person POV by Fe Fe Stevens, Wolfe’s debut novel is filled with sadness and joy, broken dreams and hope. And most importantly, it’s a book that can start conversations and encourage understanding among diverse people. Wolfe’s novel tells the story of segregated neighborhoods, poverty, fear, violence, stripped opportunities, and forced displacement. We live in a political climate where some people want to sanitize history, supposedly to spare white people uncomfortableness. But books like Wolfe’s have a much greater power to build bridges of understanding, hopefully fostering amends and shattering stereotypes.

[PEN Open Book Award finalist; Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award winner; Stephen Curry Underrated Literati Book Club Pick; Named a Best Book of Summer by Good Housekeeping, Chicago Magazine, The St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, Veranda, The Milwaukee Sentinel, Publisher’s Weekly, among others.]