Horn Book

Perkins’s story starts with Kat, a biracial scholarship student who lives with her single mother in Oakland and is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu champ—and who has recently fought off a classmate’s sexual assault. The first brief chapter ends with Kat deciding to report the assault, despite her attacker’s privileged status as a rich white jock. The next chapter begins in the Boston suburbs with Robin—himself a rich boy but with a very different backstory. Robin was born in Kolkata and adopted at age three by a wealthy white couple. His family is warm and loving; but, having just turned eighteen, Robin is restless to discover more about his origins, which motivates him to join his church youth group’s summer service trip to India to help survivors of human trafficking. Kat, temporarily living with a family friend in Boston following her ordeal, goes too. Alternating chapters explore Robin’s—now going by his birth name Ravi—journey to learn more about his birth parents (and his somewhat delusional attempt to single-handedly bring down traffickers) and Kat’s quest to heal by helping other victims of sexual brutality. The issues are heavy, and the macro- and microaggressions are many, but the narrative tone is not leaden. The protagonists’ love of comics and movies sup¬plies running jokes (i.e., Ravi resembles a Bollywood star), and Perkins provides cinematic information about setting (“INT. KOLKATA AIRPORT—DAY”). Well-rounded secondary characters, including sweet-natured Gracie from Boston and eager would-be teen tour guide Bontu from Kolkata, deliver moments of levity and emotional support for the protagonists.