The Chosen One

A First-Generation Ivy League Odyssey

By: Echo Brown

Narrated by: Echo Brown, Joniece Abbott-Pratt

This memoir filled with “overwhelming emotions and power” (The Mary Sue) testifies to the disappointments and triumphs of a Black first-generation college student in this exploration of the first-year experience.

There are many watchers and they are always white. That’s the first thing Echo notices as she settles into Dartmouth College. Despite graduating high school in Cleveland as valedictorian, Echo immediately struggles to keep up in demanding classes. Dartmouth made many promises it couldn't keep. The campus is not a rainbow-colored utopia where education lifts every voice. Nor is it a paradise of ideas, an incubator of inclusivity, or even an exciting dating scene. But it might be a portal to different dimensions of time and space—only accessible if Echo accepts her calling as a Chosen One and takes charge of her future by healing her past. This remarkable challenge demands vulnerability, humility, and the conviction to ask for help without sacrificing self-worth.

In mesmerizing personal narrative and magical realism, Echo Brown confronts mental illness, grief, racism, love, friendship, ambition, self-worth, and belonging as they steer the fates of first-generation college students on Dartmouth’s campus. The Chosen One is an unforgettable coming-of-age story that bravely unpacks the double-edged college transition—as both catalyst for old wounds and a fresh start.

Supernatural elements

I enjoyed the story and connected to the author as she faced the numerous challenges of a poor black girl in an Ivy League college.
I did not connect with the words or sound effects while she explored other realities during counseling or traumatic events - but I can see how it might be valuable for someone else depending on where your life has taken you.

Amazing!

I loved this book and author. Great story line and charter development. As a first gen student I loved reading and hearing about Echo’s experience at an Ivy!