3.5 stars

Emira is a black 25-year old and she doesn’t have a “real” job. She is a babysitter (not a nanny) for a white couple three days/week and a typist the other two days. Briar is the toddler she looks after, mostly because Alix (Bri’s mom) doesn’t really like Bri and wants time away (though Emira is told Alix needs quiet to write her book (despite Alix taking her baby with her)).

When there is an emergency at Alix’s house one night while Emira is our with friends, Alix calls Emira in a panic asking if she can come take Bri while Alix and her husband call the police. Alix suggests Emira take Bri to the local grocery store… where another shopper decides Emira must have stolen the little white child and reports her to security. Another shopper gets the confrontation on video until it is sorted out. Emira wants nothing to do with the video and just wants to put it all behind her.

This was good. I didn’t really like any of the characters, though. (And although I don’t particularly like kids), I did love Emira’s relationship with Bri. Alix weirded me out there when she tried to befriend Emira. At the end, I liked the way the author delved into future years with how Emira was doing and what she continued on to do after the main part of the story was done. ( )

An interesting read about a black 25 yr old taking on a babysitting job for a white family. The mom is not aware that she is racist, nor is the babysitter until a situation becomes clear. The babysitter clearly comes out ahead.Kirkus: The relationship between a privileged white mom and her black babysitter is strained by race-related complications.Blogger/role model/inspirational speaker Alix Chamberlain is none too happy about moving from Manhattan to Philadelphia for her husband Peter's job as a TV newscaster. With no friends or in-laws around to help out with her almost-3-year-old, Briar, and infant, Catherine, she?ll never get anywhere on the book she?s writing unless she hires a sitter. She strikes gold when she finds Emira Tucker. Twenty-five-year-old Emira?s family and friends expect her to get going on a career, but outside the fact that she?s about to get kicked off her parents? health insurance, she?s happy with her part-time gigs�and Briar is her "favorite little human." Then one day a double-header of racist events topples the apple cart¥Emira is stopped by a security guard who thinks she's kidnapped Briar, and when Peter's program shows a segment on the unusual ways teenagers ask their dates to the prom, he blurts out "Let's hope that last one asked her father first" about a black boy hoping to go with a white girl. Alix?s combination of awkwardness and obsession with regard to Emira spins out of control and then is complicated by the reappearance of someone from her past (coincidence alert), where lies yet another racist event. Reid?s debut sparkles with sharp observations and perfect details¥food, d?cor, clothes, social media, etc.¥and she?s a dialogue genius, effortlessly incorporating toddler-ese, witty boyfriend?speak, and African American Vernacular English. For about two-thirds of the book, her evenhandedness with her varied cast of characters is impressive, but there?s a point at which any possible empathy for Alix disappears. Not only is she shallow, entitled, unknowingly racist, and a bad mother, but she has not progressed one millimeter since high school, and even then she was worse than we thought. Maybe this was intentional, but it does make things¥ha ha¥very black and white.Charming, challenging, and so interesting you can hardly put it down.

I’m always worried that I’ll be disappointed when I start a hyped up novel but this one was as entertaining as promised.

Viral video. Annoying Manhattan “influencer” types. Racial issues. Romance. Young people finding their sea legs in the adult world. A little bit of everything.

Very readable. I’d be happy to pick up her next novel. ( )

Such a fun, thrilling, and insightful read. ( )

Emira, a young black woman who babysits for a white family, is out with her young charge one evening at a high-end grocery store, when she is harassed by the security guard, who believes she may have kidnapped the toddler. The episode is caught on a cellphone video, and though Emira persuades the owner of the phone (a young white man) not to release the video, she does eventually begin a relationship with him. Meanwhile, Alix, the mother of the toddler, attempts to make it up to Emira by trying to establish a closer relationship with her, but is that really possible?

My feelings are all over the place about this novel and I can't quite decide how I feel about it. The opening scene does a great job of pulling the reader in, and though you think you know what's going to happen, you may be surprised. There is a lot going on in this story and there were aspects about it that I liked, but also things that I didn't care for. With a storyline that may make the reader somewhat uncomfortable, it does make you think, and would be a good read for a book club discussion. ( )