MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS

A girl contends with family, faith, and loss in a world with doors to other realms.

No one knows where the doors came from. They just appeared one day, seven doors around the world that open to a magical, confusing world. Some people go through them and find wonders: plants with druglike properties, the ghosts of loved ones, healing powers. Some go through and immediately “pop.” There’s no telling what will happen until someone steps through. Ayanna and Olivia, twin Black girls, are born into this world of doors. Their father grew up in a religious group formed around the door in Michigan. Their mother is a staunch Catholic. When the parents divorce, Olivia goes to live with their mother and Ayanna stays with their dad. Despite their very different personalities and upbringings, the girls love each other, and as they grow into teens, they work to keep their bond strong. Everything changes, though, on the day of Ayanna’s coming-of-age ceremony, and suddenly Ayanna must contend with having everything she knows tossed on its head. Giddings has created a world that feels both extremely relatable and unknowingly mystical, Ayanna’s meditations on grief, love, and belonging mixing seamlessly with ghosts, alien drugs, and door cults. The writing is an engaging mix of witty and cutting, moving between laugh-out-loud moments and deep, gut-punching scenes without missing a beat. The characters have great depth, and Ayanna’s college experiences, especially, stand out for a touching mix of standard early 20s angst, deep depression, and the feeling of freedom that comes with being an adult for the first time.

A brilliant, magical tale of grief and growth.