The Chosen One: A First-Generation Ivy League Odyssey

The Chosen One: A First-Generation Ivy League Odyssey is a personal narrative about a Black girl, Echo Brown, going from living in a poor neighborhood to an Ivy League school. I loved it so much, and I have no doubt others will too. It was very confusing in places, because Echo would have these hallucinations and would see/think things that weren’t actually happening. So with the book being in first-person, it was hard to figure out what was in her head and what wasn’t. As a whole, the book was very melancholy, but it really opened your eyes to what could be going on with other people.

The Chosen One was such an emotional roller coaster! Echo started off confident to prove the adult who told her “she couldn’t get into an Ivy League” wrong, then a few chapters later she was delirious when she got hypnotized (that’s where the hallucinations started). Fortunately, there weren’t any pictures, because that meant I had to picture everything in my head. I also really hope this gets made into a film because that would make it way better.

I would recommend this book for those aged twelve to sixteen and for those who like realistic and adventurous books.