He sometimes needs to be shoved there a little, but he readily absorbs the lessons he’s taught by the people who surround him, and he’s not afraid to admit when he was wrong, and to rewrite his life goals when he needs to.

Del is a flawed but solid character, and his growth throughout the novel is admirable.

Giles is right up there with Angie Thomas, nailing the voice of a Black teenager searching for answers, identity, and his place in the world.

Not one time during the reading of this book did I go, “Wow, this is absolutely an adult writing for teens ” Mr. It’s my first Lamar Giles novel, but already I can tell he’s a master of voice. The Purity Pledge may not be what he expected, but getting involved leads to everything he needs to move forward in life. Del has a lot to learn: about life, about purity and sexual expectations, about what it means to be a good man and how to treat women. But the friend’s he’s making at the Purity group are turning out to be solid. His college-age sister has some mysterious new gig. Del’s town has had a rash of teen pregnancies and the community is still reeling from that. *record scratch* Kiera’s not thrilled with Del or his reputation (which he hasn’t exactly earned), but he’s determined to game the system with the help of Jameer, another student in the program with whom Del has made a bargain: he’ll get Jameer answers to his sex questions from the Healthy Living class at school that Jameer isn’t allowed to take, and Jameer will aid Del in his quest to finally get together with Kiera.īut things are always a little more complicated than they may seem. Now that she’s finally single, Del’s ready to swoop in and make his move, but he never expected to follow her into his church’s program for pledging purity. By whatever means I discovered this book, I’m glad I did this is some fabulous YA.ĭel’s been in love with Kiera since their kindergarten production of The Wizard of Oz, but she’s always been attached to someone else. In fact, Lamar Giles is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and serves on the Honorary Advisory Board! How cool is that?!?!? (Thank you to the founders and members for this group, for the work you do to keep our shelves stocked with books that represent everyone! It never ceases to amaze me how much better YA now is than when I was young.). *characters grappling with religious and social issues I don’t quite remember how Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles (Quill Tree Books, 2020) came to be on my reading list (or at least where I found it), but I know WHY, because it ticks so many of my boxes:

Not so pure and simple