I'm safe here. That's how Sadie feels in her girlfriend's arms on a perfect Summer day. But then her girlfriend suddenly breaks up with Sadie. Moments later, she witnesses a scene of police brutality, which upends what now feels like a mirage of security. I'm not safe anywhere. That's how Sadie feels every day after. So she retreats to her house. Her therapist gives her suffocating isolation a name - agoraphobia. Meanwhile, Sadie's best friend Evan updates her on the protests taking place outside. Sadie wants to be a part of it. But she can't. Or can she? I can build a safe place inside myself. This is what Sadie learns over the course of one life-changing summer, with some help from her family, her friends, an online platform for activists, and the swoon-worthy new boy who moved in next door.

Mariama J. Lockington is an adoptee, educator, and Schneider Family Book Award and Stonewall Honor-winning author. She has been telling stories and making her own books since the second grade, when she wore short-alls and flower leggings every day to school. She is the author of For Black Girls Like Me, In the Key of Us, and Forever Is Now, as well as a poetry chapbook The Lucky Daughter. Mariama holds a Masters in Education from Lesley University and Masters in Fine Arts in Poetry from San Francisco State University. She lives in Kentucky with her partner.