A review by lazygal
The Record Keeper by Agnes Gomillion

4.0

Dystopian race relations can be complicated - here we have a bit of "gee, nothing has changed". There are the English, who essentially run what's left of the world, the Clayskin (whom we hear a little about, but not much, and appear to be of part Asian, part native and part Indian extraction) and the Kongo, split into First Brother and Second Brother but who live further south and provide most of the food for the others. We see things through Akira's eyes, from her distress at being separated from her "mother" through punishment when she doesn't want to conform to extreme conforming in school to finally rebelling against the English head of school. The world building is slight, but the character building is very strong and redeems the book. There's a lot to chew over regarding the racism and how even after a disastrous war little has changed in terms of how the "first world" (English) treat the "lesser" Clayskin and Kongo. The ending leads me to believe there will be another book, and it could be an opportunity to make some serious societal changes.

ARC provided by publisher.