A Down Chick, by Mallori McNeal
McNeal, Mallori (2005). A Down Chick. Columbus, OH: Triple Crown Publications. 209 pages.
While this may not be technically a young adult novel, it does fit two criteria some consider when determining whether a literary work is an example of the form: first, A Down Chick belongs to a genre of fiction widely read by teens and second, the novel's author, Mallori McNeal, began writing this book at age 14 and completed it at age 16. At any rate, that this novel fit the above criteria (though I usually rely on the "created with an express audience of teen readers in mind" definition), and that Down is representative of urban fiction, an outsider literary genre revived in the mid-1990s, ultimately led to my decision to include McNeal's novel in this blog.
The first of a duet of novels (The Set Up is this novel's sequel), A Down Chick describes seventeen-year-old downtown Cincinnati girl Amina, who, for the first time, is offered an opportunity to meet her estranged father. When Amina meets her father, Damen, and his attractive son Azelle, she is entranced by her "other" family's posh life. Damen runs his own successful luxury car dealership and lives in a schmancy house while Azelle leads a shadowy life of "business" and owns his own well-decorated condo. After a fight with her mother, Amina decides to move in with Azelle and, as the two grow closer and Amina begins a romance with Kayne, one of Azelle's friends, Amina finds herself increasingly involved in what turns out to be Azelle's drug dealing business. After Azelle and then Kayne are arrested and Damen leaves town worried about the long arm of the law, Amina resorts to underworld business to stay afloat (and pay for all those lawyers!).
Soooo much happened in this novel; it's really surprising that it was only 200 pages long. Amina progresses from 17 to 18, gets pregnant, gets beaten up, visits friends and relatives in jail, evades police, issues a hit, and, ultimately, gets caught. The plot recycles much of what I've come to expect from garden-variety urban fiction: young girl falls in love (or meets an estranged relative), discovers that said lover (or relative) is involved in some shady business, and enjoys the spoils of the life until the law bites her on the ass. I can't really say that this book was fast-paced because many of the scenes seemed a bit over-long, however, McNeal's novel does move from plot point to plot point with little downtime. The novel ended on a rather unexpected note--I don't want to spoil it here, but it did leave me wondering how a sequel was even possible--and one that, compared with the rapid clip of events that comprise the novel, was surprisingly psychologically rich. One sort of odd postscript: I'm pretty sure this novel is called A Down Chick because that is how it is listed in the Triple Crown catalog and on the header of each page; however, the title as it appears on the novel's cover reads A Down Chic. Hmmm . . .