When We Almost Came Undone

A girl struggles to find hope with her sisters, her best friend, and a new crush as the country navigates a pandemic and protests against police brutality in this timely coming-of-age novel, perfect for fans of Darius the Great Is Not Okay.

I just want to enjoy being alive. Can’t that be enough?

Tia doesn’t know how much more she can take. Her middle sister Mel is in a coma after a mental health crisis, a global pandemic has stolen her senior year, and racial tension is high across the country following the murder of another unarmed Black man by a police officer. Her best friend Drew believes the answer is speaking up and out, but Tia is just trying not to fall apart.

When her oldest sister Alexis invites her to stay at her place, Tia jumps at the chance to escape her house and her despair, if only for a little while. In a new city, with a new romance and a new pandemic puppy, she begins to feel a glimmer of light in the darkness.

But the darkness lingers. Will Mel wake up? Is Alexis as steady as she seems? Will Drew forgive Tia for stepping back instead of stepping up? And is love, in all its forms, enough to sustain her—or will illness and injustice define her life?

Stifled by unrest and uncertainty at every turn, Tia must figure out how to keep from losing her mind—and her hope.