SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

August 18, 2022 by Amanda MacGregor

Book Review: Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest

August 18, 2022 by Amanda MacGregor   Leave a Comment

Publisher’s description

A fresh love story about the will they, won’t they—and why can’t they—of first love.

While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a storm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up for months. And honestly? Their break up hadn’t surprised anyone. Zyla and Kai met while working together at an amusement park the previous summer, and they couldn’t have been more different.

Zyla was a cynic about love. She’d witnessed the dissolution of her parents’ marriage early in life, and it left an indelible impression. Her only aim was graduating and going to fashion school abroad. Until she met Kai.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Kai was a serial dater and a hopeless romantic. He’d put a temporary pause on his dating life before senior year to focus on school and getting into his dream HBCU. Until he met Zyla.

Alternating between the past and present, we see the love story unfold from Zyla’s and Kai’s perspectives: how they first became the unlikeliest of friends over the summer, how they fell in love during the school year, and why they ultimately broke up… Or did they?

Romantic, heart-stirring, and a little mysterious, Zyla & Kai will keep readers guessing until the last chapter.


Amanda’s thoughts

Here’s the thing: increasingly here, my reviews feel less like reviews and more like little arguments for why, exactly, I want you to know about this book. The summaries hit the plot points, but I’m interested in talking about what specific thing or things stand out, what is unique, what recommends this book as something you should get onto your endless TBR. If I were writing this for SLJ, I would be more thorough, less chatty, and would look at the whole book. But I’m writing this for TLT, where I can talk to you in a more conversational manner. All of this is to say, if you’re reading these reviews lately and thinking they’re not incredibly detailed or focusing on just one aspect of a book, that’s true and that’s fine.

The part of this book that I really want to talk about is the fact that Kai lost his parents nearly a decade ago, he’s been in therapy forever, and he talks about this fact as well as that he deals with anxiety and panic attacks. We do not have a ton of examples of Black boys in YA seeing therapists or openly discussing mental health. I love when a book reflects an important aspect of real life, especially if it’s an underrepresented aspect, so I have something to point to if this comes up in conversation. This representation is needed. Normalizing living with mental health issues and getting help is needed. Here is Kai, he’s doing it, he’s talking about it, it’s okay! We see him at appointments with Dr. Rueben, his therapist. We see him work through things, share them with his doctor, and learn how very normal these experiences are. We see him learn to cope, to manage, to share. He casually tells Zyla that he sees a therapist and her response is, “That’s really cool. I probably need a therapist, too, honestly.” Kai replies, “I mean, I personally think everyone could benefit from therapy” (131). I appreciate this. The more readers can see these examples, can witness these conversations, can see themselves (whoever they may be and whatever their identities may be) represented in these situations, the better we will all be. While this book was really good, had wonderful dialogue, and kept me guessing what was happening as we toggled back and forth in time, it’s this specific representation of a Black teen boy living with anxiety and panic attacks and getting help that I want to draw your attention to. A great read with important rep.


Review copy (hardcover) courtesy of the publisher

ISBN-13: 9780593407240
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Publication date: 06/07/2022
Pages: 480
Age Range: 12 – 17 Years

Filed under: Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
#MHYALitAnxietyBlack boysBook reviewsDatingMental HealthMysteriesTherapy

About Amanda MacGregor

Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on Twitter @CiteSomething.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2023

Book Review: The Davenports by Krystal Marquis

by Amanda MacGregor

January 2023

Post-It Note Reviews: A mayor dog, a bunch of Big Bads, a mobster, and more!

by Amanda MacGregor

January 2023

Book Review: The Roof Over Our Heads by Nicole Kronzer

by Amanda MacGregor

January 2023

Book Review: Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender

by Amanda MacGregor

December 2022

Book Review: Ode to a Nobody by Caroline Brooks DuBois

by Amanda MacGregor

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

One Star Review, Guess Who? (#181)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

That Flag: An Interview with Tameka Fryer Brown

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Monkey Prince Vol. 1: Enter the Monkey | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Webcast Results

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

The Value of Innocence for BIPOC Students, a guest post by David Mura

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Looking Ahead: Our 2023 Preview

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

10 YA Sports Novels That Knock It Out of the Park | Summer Reading 2021

19 Webcomics To Keep Kids and Teens Engaged

Hi-Lo & Mighty Reads: 15 engaging and ­accessible series for ­reluctant and striving readers

Mental Health Awareness Month: 9 Books About Teens in Therapy

19 Top Books for Tween and Teen Climate Activists

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023