Review by Booklist Review
Pink Mountain Pizza is more than a restaurant, it's a haven for its workers. For Cam, it's a place to try to forget that his cousin Kiki has been missing for months, another Indigenous woman people have forgotten about. For Berlin, it's another place to strive for perfection, even if things like her best friend's sudden cold shoulder threaten her ability to get through the day. For Jessie, it's an escape from the expectations of her family. When they learn the owner is selling, Berlin tries to rally her coworkers to action. But even with a cause to fight for, everyone soon realizes they can't escape change. This is a book that fully immerses the reader in each character's unique voice and perspective while still feeling like a true ensemble piece. Ferguson tackles many heavy topics, but the narrative never stalls under their weight. This will leave readers thinking about its characters' strengths and struggles long after they finish the last page.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The latest disappearance in a long line of missing Indigenous women and girls from Alberta, teenager Kiki Cheyanne Sound, who is Black and Cree, has been missing for five months. Classmates Cameron Sound, who is Cree; Berlin Chambers, who is Métis; and Jessie Hampton, who is white, work together at Pink Mountain Pizza, a local Black-owned food joint. Each teen is dealing with their own challenges: Kiki's cousin Cam is struggling with her vanishing and hides behind a disaffected facade, Berlin is managing undiagnosed depression while coping with her best friend ghosting her, and Jessie is navigating a tense relationship with her deeply misogynistic father. The trio is forced to come together when Berlin sees Kiki near Pink Mountain Pizza, launching the teens into an investigation behind her disappearance that is imperiled by the parlor owner's plans to sell and franchise the pizzeria. As they try to find Kiki, the group also endeavors to prevent the owner from selling. Via an intersectionally diverse cast, this character-driven story by Ferguson (The Summer of Bitter and Sweet) tackles macro-level issues such as anti-Blackness as well as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Individuals alongside familiar teenage troubles surrounding friendship breakups. Ages 13--up. Agent: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Berlin is the uptight perfectionist, Cam the constantly laughing dropout, and Jessie the rebellious daughter of an ultrarich and ultraconservative family. The three work at Pink Mountain Pizza in a small Canadian town. Cam and Berlin's families are close, and they bonded in grief over the disappearance of Kiki, Cam's Cree and Black cousin several months earlier. One night, Berlin thinks she sees Kiki in town. This reignites her and Cam's search for what happened to Kiki and asking more questions among their friends. Their world is further upended when Joe, the owner of Pink Mountain Pizza, decides to sell his shop. Jessie carries the secret her father is the buyer of the pizzeria to force her to stop working there. Backed by her coworkers, Berlin sets up a social media campaign to save the pizzeria, but her plans raise further issues. Their alternating viewpoints provide insight into the challenges each character faces in their lives, moving them beyond caricatures and into fully developed, complex characters who are leaning into adulthood and making mistakes. Their actions galvanize their town and expose the racist and toxic underbelly of the most influential people there. Some characters are nonbinary and exploring their sexuality. Cam's little sister Sami has Down syndrome and he believes in her ability to be more than people think. VERDICT A YA read-alike of Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You, this story touches on many contemporary issues as part of their everyday lives and will have broad appeal. A first purchase.--Tamara Saarinen
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Review by Horn Book Review
Kiki, who is Black and Cree, has been gone for five months when the book begins, and the police have stopped looking for her. Her friend and fellow First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Student Association member Berlin, a high achiever living with depression, and Cam, Berlin's longtime childhood rival, feel Kiki's loss profoundly. When Berlin thinks she sees Kiki outside Pink Mountain Pizza, where she and Cam work -- and where much of the story is set -- the two put aside their differences to search for her. They're assisted by new coworker Jessie, whose abusive father, a developer, is trying to buy Pink Mountain Pizza out from under Joe, one of the few Black business owners in town. Their social media campaign to raise awareness and save the store garners much support but also provides a platform for people to attack Joe, bringing to light issues of capitalism and anti-Black racism. Kiki's page-turning story and her mother's earlier disappearance provide multiple angles on the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People. Through a well-characterized ensemble cast, Ferguson (The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, rev. 5/22), who is Michif/Metis and white, addresses the myriad difficult topics facing her characters with sensitivity and care. Nicholl Denice MontgomerySeptember/October 2023 p.73 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Berlin Chambers, a Métis 17-year-old, is stunned when she sees her missing classmate near the popular pizza parlor where she works. Kiki Cheyanne Sound, who is Black and Cree, disappeared five months ago. Exhausted from her evening shift at Pink Mountain Pizza, Berlin is unsure if she can trust her eyes. Nonetheless, she alerts Cameron Sound, her co-worker and childhood nemesis, who's deeply affected by his cousin's disappearance but hides his anxiety beneath a relaxed persona. Rule-following, perfectionist Berlin has always been at odds with Cam, but their shared hope that Kiki is alive, renewed by the sighting, forms a fragile bond between them. Unfortunately, bad news soon follows when it's announced that the pizza parlor will be sold and franchised. Queer, white Jessie Hampton, the newest teen employee, is upset but unsurprised since the restaurant's purchase is being conducted by her domineering, sexist father whose expectations she defies by working there. When Berlin, who views the loss of this local, Black-owned business as a betrayal of their community, decides to convince the owner to reverse his decision, Jessie and Cam agree to lend their support. Set in Alberta, this introspective, character-driven story examines heavy topics, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, depression, and anti-Blackness, with sensitivity and compassion. This sophomore outing by Michif/Métis and white author Ferguson features lyrical prose that softens the emotionally fraught narrative without sacrificing suspense, resulting in a mystery that subtly builds to a shocking reveal. Intimate and impactful. (content warning, author's note) (Fiction. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
