Description

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From Printz honoree and National Book Award Finalist Candice Iloh, a prose novel about a teenager reckoning with her family’s—and her home town's—secrets.

Yaminah Okar left Obsidian and the wreckage of her family years ago. She and her father have made lives for themselves in Brooklyn. She thinks she’s moved on to bigger and better things. She thinks she's finally left behind that city she would rather forget. But when a Facebook message about her estranged mother pierces Yaminah’s new bubble, memories of everything that happened before her parents' divorce come roaring back. Now, Yaminah must finally reckon with the truth about her mother and the growing collapse of a place she once called home.

About the Author

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Candice Iloh is a first-generation Nigerian American writer whose books center home. They are from the Midwest by way of Washington, DC, and Brooklyn, New York. They are a proud alumna of the Rhode Island Writers Colony, and their work has earned fellowships from Lambda Literary, VONA, and Kimbilio Fiction and a residency with Hi-ARTS, where they debuted their first one-person show in 2018. Candice became a 2020 National Book Award Finalist and, in 2021, a Printz Award Honoree for their debut novel, Every Body Looking. Salt the Water is their third novel.

Praise For…

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★"A unique bildungsroman about growing up with an inconsistent and absent mother that is grounded in Iloh’s expert craftsmanship for character and setting"—SLJ, starred review

"Iloh’s meditation on grief, individuals’ capacity for change, and perseverance of family [is] a thought-provoking read."—Publishers Weekly

“Iloh’s coming-of-age story deconstructs the tropes of Black familial life and shines a glaring light onto the importance of addressing trauma”—Booklist

"A tender, poetic storyabout what it's like to experience loss and learn to continue living anyway."—Book Page