Racism – K. J. Farnham

My Life Before Me is a gripping YA mystery that takes place in 1964. I absolutely adored the orphaned teen narrator, Cady Andrews, an aspiring journalist on a mission to discover her origins. Right before Cady embarks on her journey, she receives an envelope that contains a clue about where she’s from.

This story involves murder, racism (with historic references), classism and buried secrets. There are also quite a few twists and turns, but McClintock did a superb job of laying the plot points out in an easy-to-follow manner. Even though this book covers several mature themes (all presented tastefully, in my opinion), I think it would be a wonderful addition to any middle or high school library.

I read My Life Before Me out loud to my husband while we were on a road trip. We were bummed when we had to stop reading in order to eat dinner. During dinner, we discussed possible outcomes for the mystery Cady was trying to solve. Then, we finished reading as soon as we got settled into our hotel room for the night. My husband and I both loved Cady’s story!