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Title details for Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley - Available

Nightcrawling

A Novel

by Leila Mottley
Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK • A dazzling novel about a young Black woman who walks the streets of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice system. This debut of a blazingly original voice “bursts at the seams of every page and swallows you whole” (Tommy Orange, author of There There).
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, TIME, GOODREADS

Kiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison
But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent—which has more than doubled—and to keep the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed. One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.
Rich with raw beauty, electrifying intensity, and piercing vulnerability, Nightcrawling marks the stunning arrival of a voice unlike any we have heard before.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    June 7, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593590058
      • File size: 311474 KB
      • Duration: 10:48:54

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 18, 2022
      Mottley, Oakland’s former Youth Poet Laureate, debuts with a bold and beautiful account of two Black siblings striving to thrive and survive. Seventeen-year-old Kiara and her older brother, Marcus, have been on their own since their single mother was convicted of negligent homicide three years earlier. When the landlord raises the rent on their Oakland studio apartment, Kiara grows desperate. Marcus is no help; he can’t hold down a job while he chases dreams of becoming a hip-hop star. Kiara turns a few tricks—at first, just enough to pay the rent and buy groceries for her and the neighbor’s son she’s taking care of. But soon Kiara is caught up in a sex-trafficking ring servicing Bay Area cops, and her world collapses when the scandal goes public. Mottley powerfully chronicles Kiara’s desperation and her bravery, as well as her determination to keep moving forward despite the crushing torrent of losses affecting her family as well as those of everyone she knows. Scenes of realism are rendered with a poet’s eye, as Kiara experiences moments of beauty and joy by tagging an underpass wall with spray paint, learning to swim in a dirty pool, and finding shelter in the arms of a friend. This heartrending story makes for a powerful testament to a Black woman’s resilience. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      From this audiobook's opening line, Joniece Abbott-Pratt's narration creates an immersive listening experience. She perfectly embodies the first-person perspective of Kiara, a high school dropout who is living with her older brother, Marcus, in a shabby apartment in East Oakland, California. Their father is dead, and their mother is gone, leaving them with only each other. Marcus refuses to get a job while he's pursuing a career in music, and Abbott-Pratt's performance perfectly captures Kiara's anguished decision to become a sex worker to survive. With no job skills, what else can she do? With Abbott-Pratt's empathetic understanding of the characters, especially in the dialogue she performs, she creates one of the most moving and emotionally intimate audiobooks of the year. K.D.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Mottley's stunning debut draws readers in right away with the power and vividness of her prose. This is the story of Kiara, a teenager in Oakland, CA, who has lost her parents to death and incarceration. Kiara's rent is going to double, and her need to fend off eviction leads her into survival sex work. Her older brother is more interested in pursuing his dreams of being a rap star than helping solve their financial problems, and to make matters worse, she is also responsible for a neighbor's child, who has been abandoned by his mother. Before long, Kiara falls in with corrupt cops who take advantage of their position to abuse her and other young women. Loosely based on a real-life 2015 case, this haunting book is full of sharply drawn, memorable characters. Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt reads the story with energy and enthusiasm, creating different accents and voices to help make the story memorable. VERDICT Powerful writing, well-drawn characters, and a piercing look at the inequities experienced by Black women within the criminal justice system make this audiobook stand out. Mottley is an author to watch.--Susan Cox

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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