A review by bickie
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone

4.0

11-yr-old protagonist William "Scoob" is unfairly singled out and punished at school (almost certainly b/c he is Black), causing his dad to cancel their spring break vacation. G'ma shows up in an RV while Dad's at work and offers to take him on an adventure. Sounds good to him! The adventure turns out to be a longer road trip than Scoob originally expected, and together he and G'ma unpack a lot of what's going on with Scoob's dad, absent mom, and life at school as well as G'ma and G'Pop's past as an interracial couple in the late 1960s US south. There are some references to Medgar Evers, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the green book. The adventure reads like a mystery, with lots of hints about what's really going on with G'ma. Scoob notices a lot of things that feel "off," starting with seeing his G'ma in camo gear apparently switching their license plates with another camper one very early morning. There are funny parts mixed in with the sobering parts, making Scoob a sympathetic character. G'ma is definitely flawed but family, someone who has been in Scoob's corner his whole life.

Dion Graham's nuanced narration is fantastic with spot-on pauses, tones, and emotion; G'ma's voice is a little perplexing, but it grew on me quickly.