New from Sourcebooks Fire! Review of I'm Not Dying With You Tonight!

Segal, Gilly and Kimberly Jones.  I’m Not Dying With You                  Tonight.  Sourcebooks  Fire,   2019.

Campbell Carlson didn’t really want to work at the football stadium concession stand Friday night.  She only did it because she felt bad for her teacher when no one volunteered.  And then, when the other two people working with her weren’t helping, she regretted it even more.

Lena James only went to the football game to watch a friend, who was the captain of the dance team, perform at halftime.  She wanted to meet up with her boyfriend, Black, after the game, but she was so thirsty.  That’s how she ended up at the concession stand after halftime.

What happens next pushes the two girls—with opposite personalities and experiences—into a terrifying situation.  Uncontrollable fights break out at the football game, escalating into shootings.  Campbell and Lena need to get away from the stadium to a safe place, so they flee to the school’s portable buildings.  Once there, they realize that they are still in danger and decide they must get away from the school completely. 

Lena wants to find Black, believing he will protect her, but her phone is dead.  Although Campbell has a phone, there is no one she can contact; her father has gone to his fishing cabin, and she can’t get in touch with him.  The girls head out and end up in the middle of race riots in Atlanta.  Now they must rely on each other to navigate the dangerous, looting crowd in order to make it to safety.

This novel is written in alternating chapters in the voices of Lena and Campbell.  Lena is the sassy, black girl who knows all about style and has lived in Atlanta all her life.  Campbell is the quiet, white girl who is new in town and to McPherson High School.  The girls’ personalities drove the plot to its climax, and I loved the way both grew and changed along the way, in only a span of about six to eight hours.  The authors really made each girl see through the other’s eyes by the end of the novel.  The girls also learn that stereotypes are not always what they seem.

There are some laugh-out-loud hilarious moments and some surprising twists that keep the plot going.  The fighting and looting scenes are extremely realistic; this makes readers feel they are really there living the action with the characters.  I do wish that there were a glossary of slang terms included in the book.  I had to keep Googling many of Lena’s words and phrases.

I’m Not Dying With You Tonight is a quick, exciting read that will keep readers turning the pages.  I recommend it for high school and public libraries and give it four out of five fleur de lis!

**Note:  The review copy was received from teenreads.com in exchange for an honest review.