Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Abstract

Reviewed by: Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah Ace of Spades. Feiwel, 2021 [432 p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250800817 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781250800824 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 7-10 As the chief candidate for valedictorian and most popular (if not most liked) student at Niveus Private Academy, Chiamaka Adebayo rules both the academic and social scene. Her classmate Devon Richards is less ambitious, mostly wanting to focus on music but also to make sure his working mother's sacrifices to pay his tuition are worth it. Besides being the only two Black students at the school, they have little in common, but an anonymous person called Aces targets both of them by blasting out texts to the entire school revealing their intimate secrets. They eventually suspect the harassment to be racially motivated, but neither the school admin nor their friends seem interested in helping them, so the two are forced to do their own investigating and discover a devastating web of cruelty. The two teens share narration, and of the pair, Devon is the more nuanced character as he struggles with his queerness and the daily code-switching he has to do as he moves between his neighborhood and his school. Aces is a more direct threat to Chiamaka, however, which gives her voice a growing sense of urgency, shifting her initially cool, calculating tone to barely contained panic. The book takes a little too long establishing what both teens stand to lose to Aces, but once the focus moves to their efforts toward finding out what the heck is going on, the tension ratchets up and the pages nearly turn themselves. Comparisons to Get Out are inevitable, [End Page 414] and, like that movie, this examines the hidden but powerful ways white supremacy establishes itself. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois