Sugar Town Queens

By: Malla Nunn

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

From Los Angeles Times Book Prize Award winner and Edgar Award nominee Malla Nunn comes a stunning portrait of a family divided and a powerful story of how friendship saves and heals.

When Amandla wakes up on her 15th birthday, she knows it's going to be one of her mother's difficult days. Her mother has had another vision. This one involves Amandla wearing a bedsheet loosely stitched as a dress. An outfit, her mother says, is certain to bring Amandla's father back home, as if he were the prince and this was the fairy-tale ending their family was destined for. But in truth, Amandla's father has long been gone - since before Amandla was born - and even her mother's memory of him is hazy. In fact, many of her mother's memories from before Amandla was born are hazy. It's just one of the many reasons people in Sugar Town give them strange looks - that and the fact her mother is White, and Amandla is Black.

When Amandla finds a mysterious address in the bottom of her mother's handbag along with a large amount of cash, she decides it's finally time to get answers about her mother's life. What she discovers will change the shape and size of her family forever. But with her best friends at her side, Amandla is ready to take on family secrets and the devil himself. These Sugar Town queens are ready to take over the world to expose the hard truths of their lives.

©2021 Malla Nunn (P)2021 Listening Library

Critic reviews

A 2022 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year
A 2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick
A 2022 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books Pick
An Amazon Best Book – August 2021

“Amandla uncovers the painful secrets of her mother’s past with the help of supportive, intergenerational friends and family. She also gains the courage to confront violent ­misogyny and racism in a post-apartheid South Africa, coming to accept herself as a biracial, intelligent individual. This descriptive, fast-paced ­narrative is a compelling read that is difficult to put down and will likely fly off library shelves.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“Nunn grounds her tale in Amandla’s convictions and embrace of her life and neighbors in Sugar Town. Complexities of race and racism in Mandela’s freed South Africa are handled with realism and strength . . . but it is the resilient community that is front and center in Nunn's unique and detailed setting. Readers will cheer Amandla as she discovers who she is and where she came from in this captivating book.” —Booklist, starred review

“Nunn’s evocative storytelling will make you ache for Amandla. She is a complex creation whose circumstances are sensational but whose journey is relatable. Nunn surrounds Amandla with a diverse cast of characters who are similarly interesting and strongly developed. The novel’s hard truths about race and class are more than balanced by the love of all types that Amandla experiences. These supportive relationships are the most rewarding part of Sugar Town Queens, the glue that holds it all together.” —BookPage, starred review

Excellent!

Malla Nunn has done it again. An interesting social commentary about growing up in a world that is difficult to navigate in the best of times. When times aren't the best it becomes important to find your way, hopefully with some help from unexpected places.

LGBT Agenda seems forced in every YA book

Good story based on South Africa. It does seem like the LGBT agenda seems forced in every YA book now. This one was no different. It was like the author wanted to check off every box of oppression (racism, sexism, classism, etc). Adding the two friends having some secret passion for each other seemed more forced…there was zero chemistry between the two.

Why couldn’t they all just be three young girls who grew up as friends? This “LGBT cancel culture” has people scared to be heterosexual without persecution. The fear is showing up in books now. Smh