Deep in Providence by Riss m. Neilson.

Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250788528

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

Taking place in Providence, Rhode Island, Deep in Providence introduces Miliani, Natalie, and Inez, whose friend Jasmine was recently killed suddenly in a car accident, Miliani is determined to bring her back. Inez and Natalie are skittish about it, but it seems so important to Miliani they agree and swear a blood pact. The story is told from the alternating points of view of the three girls.

Miliani’s family is Filipino. She has witchcraft in her blood but did not learn how to use it before her grandfather died, and her mother has forbidden it, and visits to her “dangerous” aunt, Lindy. Despite this, Miliani visits Lindy, who says it may be possible to anchor Jasmine’s spirit to another person if Miliani and her friends will do enough spells to thin the boundaries between worlds. Knowing her friends would not consent to anchoring Jasmine to another person, when she tells them, she omits that from her explanation.

Natalie is a half-Black, half-white biracial girl with a younger brother, Devin and an emancipated older half-sister. Her mother is a heroin addict and disappears for long periods of time. Her sister contributes to the household financially and wants Natalie and Devin to stay with her. Natalie refuses, and does a locator spell to find her mother, who they discover fatally overdosing. The girls do a spell and reverse her mother’s coma, but Natalie can’t control her mother’s addiction long-term. Natalie also does a truth spell on her sister and learns that she is a stripper and that’s how she is able to make the money to help them.

Inez is a Dominican-American citizen whose father was deported. She plans to sponsor him once she turns 18, but she has unprotected sex with her boyfriend and becomes pregnant. She tells him, and finds he is selling drugs. She does a spell to stop her boyfriend, and he is arrested and jailed for armed robbery. Inez also casts a spell to cause a miscarriage that nearly kills her.

Although her friends are seeing spirits, Miliani’s mother has been casting spells of protection to keep spirits away, so Miliani doesn’t see the damage her plan is causing. The issue of consent hung over the book and I was relieved to see it resolved.

The book goes into some pretty dark places: drug addiction, abandonment, grief, miscarriage and abortion are never easy to read about. But the girls’ friendship as they navigate  difficult situations and their grief over Jasmine is powerful, regardless of their magic.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski