The Summer Prince
by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Buy on AmazonIn a Brazil of the distant future, June Costa falls in love with Enki, a fellow artist and rebel against the strict limits of the legendary pyramid city of Palmares Três' matriarchal government, knowing that, like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.
Recommended by
"In a far-future, post-nuclear-apocalypse Brazil, artist June and her best friend, Gil, find their lives upended when Gil falls in love with their city’s newly elected Summer King, Enki. Yes, it’s a post-apocalyptic, slightly dystopian teen love triangle, but with a twist: Our heroine becomes the third wheel in a sensitively depicted romance between her two male friends. And the antagonists in the city’s ossified government aren’t entirely unsympathetic. The Summer Prince is that rare young adult title that’s comfortable with ambiguity and nuance — bolstered with solid world-building and well-seasoned with tropical rhythms."
NPR Books We Love — 2013 · apps.npr.org