Nowhere Better Than Here

Starred review from October 17, 2022
Necessity and nostalgia clash in a small Louisiana town, where 13-year-old Jillian Robichaux fears the loss of her enclave and her Cajun identity in this timely story. Even when stormwaters repeatedly flood Boutin and damage its only school, Jillian urges her mother and grandmother to stay put: without familiar pastimes such as shrimping the bayous, “I was afraid I had no idea who I was.” A photo of a long-gone diner, paired with sights of empty stilts that once supported houses and for-sale signs on waterlogged property, leaves Jillian desperate to save her community, where even the graves are submerged (“Boutin would become just like Eternal Rest Cemetery: full of ghosts, then full of water”). To drum up support for historic preservation, Jillian documents longtime residents’ memories and starts a petition to rebuild the school. Guillory’s determined heroine faces a rising tide on all sides, coping with an estranged father, his neglected puppy (who adores Jillian), and a best friend as eager to leave Boutin as Jillian is to remain. Guillory (Reclaimed) develops Jillian sympathetically via a colloquial first-person voice, showing how she redefines her relationship with home without compromising her love. Protagonists read as Cajun; secondary characters include Black representation. Ages 8–12. Agent: Alice Sutherland-Hawes, ASH Literary.