Andrew Joseph White opens Compound Fracture, his third YA novel (a Kids' Indie Next List pick), with an unapologetically grisly account of a riot and a murder. What follows is a volatile, compelling mystery about an autistic transmasculine teen in a poor town in West Virginia who fights to reclaim his family's radical legacy.
Sixteen-year-old Miles Abernathy's world shatters when he obtains photos proving that Sheriff Davies intentionally caused the car wreck that traumatized Miles's father and killed a friend. The Abernathys have been fighting for justice for decades. Miles's great-great-grandfather led a coal miners' labor riot and was murdered by a member of the Davies clan. When Davies's son and his cronies discover Miles has the photos, they beat Miles and leave him for dead. After Miles is released from the hospital, he accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him and reignites the generations-old war.
White (The Spirit Bares Its Teeth) makes Miles a convincing product of his upbringing through candid, often gruesome, first-person narration punctuated by text exchanges. White explores the violent realities of capitalism and transphobia while celebrating the resilience and collective strength of the working class. This book will almost certainly leave readers battered, bruised, and inspired. --Kieran Slattery, freelance reviewer, teacher, co-creator of Gender Inclusive Classrooms