Okay Girl

by Kelis Rowe

From the author of Finding Jupiter comes a powerful new novel about love, self-esteem, and mental health. Reeling from unresolved family trauma and a viral heartbreak, a Black teen is thrust onto an unexpected journey of self-discovery, healing, and first love.

"Rowe embraces the interiority of girls’ lives with radical respect." —Cynthia Leitich Smith, winnerof the Michael L. Printz Award

Skye is an expert at pretending she’s okay.

That’s how she’s surviving after her uncle’s attempted suicide. Skye keeps putting on a fake smile—for her parents, her therapist, her friends, and her seemingly perfect boyfriend, Malik. If she’s crowned Southern Belle at prom, maybe she can leave the past behind her.

But when a viral video at the dance exposes Malik’s betrayal, Skye’s carefully curated life unravels.

Besides the writings of Sylvia Plath, her one unexpected constant is Ace— a quiet new boy with his own past.

As Skye and Ace work on The Bell Jar project, their connection deepens. Is Skye ready to move on?

Okay Girl is a powerful and moving novel that sensitively explores one Black teen’s journey toward love and healing after trauma. An afterword with mental health resources by adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Nakia Scott has been included.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

368 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication January 12, 2027

Reviews

[Joya Goffney]

Beautifully written book about the inevitable downfall of pretending to be okay. In her sophomore novel, Rowe tackles grief, heartbreak, and the sensitivity of mental illness with grace and relatability.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this one. There is something so incredibly moving about a story that allows a young Black girl to be vulnerable, messy, angry, and unsure of herself without making her any less deserving of love and understanding.

Skye broke my heart in so many ways. Watching her try to hold everything together while quietly falling apart felt painfully real. Between family trauma, betrayal, the pressure to appear okay, and navigating her own mental health, there’s so much she’s carrying. I appreciated that her healing wasn’t treated as something linear or magically fixed by finding love. Ace was a beautiful addition to her journey, but ultimately, this was Skye’s story of learning to show up for herself.

I also loved the incorporation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and how it complemented the conversations surrounding mental health, identity, and the expectations placed on young women.

Kelis Rowe handled some incredibly heavy topics with so much tenderness while still allowing room for joy, connection, and hope. This is exactly the kind of YA contemporary I wish more young readers had access to. A reminder that you don’t have to pretend you’re okay to be worthy of being loved, supported, or seen.

And sometimes, simply admitting you’re not okay is its own kind of bravery.

[Ari Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a solid, heartfelt read, and Skye is so easy to relate to and empathize with. Really being in her head for this story helped solidify the way she’s feeling and made it easy to understand her struggles. The novel handles such heavy topics in a delicate but firm way, and it was inspiring to see Skye’s growth throughout the story. I loved the cast of characters supporting her throughout the journey, especially her two best friends, Gigi and Teak, and the new kid, Ace. They, along with Malik, really provided such a great example for how to be there for friends no matter what and the grace of forgiveness that comes with solid friendships. Overall, I enjoyed every single page, and I recommend that you give this one a read!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books/Crown Books for Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!