For teens exploring complex identities or grappling with difficult choices, this gripping fantasy invites readers to consider heritage, privilege, and the fight for justice.
A parent might reach for this book when their teen is navigating a complex identity, feeling torn between different parts of their background, or questioning where they truly belong. Flicker and Mist is a young adult fantasy about Myra, a girl of mixed heritage in a world where her two peoples are starkly divided. Her father’s people, the Plumas, are the privileged ruling class, while her mother’s people, the Flicks, are persecuted for their ability to turn invisible. When the persecution intensifies, Myra must decide where her loyalties lie and which part of her identity she will claim. This book is an excellent choice for teens 13-17 as it uses a compelling magical world to explore deep themes of justice, prejudice, and family, prompting valuable conversations.
Includes non-graphic fighting, imprisonment, magical combat, and threats of harm to characters.
Sad ThemesMild
Deals with family separation, fear, and the emotional toll of living under oppression.
Romantic ContentMild
A gentle romantic subplot with some kissing and strong emotional connection.
Sensitive Topics
The book's central theme is persecution, which serves as a direct, though metaphorical, exploration of real-world racism, classism, and passing. The approach is secular. The resolution is hopeful, showing progress won through struggle, but it is also realistic in that the larger societal issues are not solved overnight. The conflict involves peril and violence, but it is not gratuitous.
Ideal Reader
A teen (13-16) who is biracial or from a multicultural background and exploring their own identity. It is also perfect for a young reader developing a strong sense of social justice who is drawn to fantasy stories about rebellion and fighting systemic oppression.
Parent Prep
Parents should be ready to discuss privilege, prejudice, code-switching, and what it means to be an ally. The violence is not overly graphic, but there are scenes of capture, threats, and fighting. No specific pages require a preview, but a pre-read would help a parent facilitate a deeper conversation about the book's allegorical elements. A parent overhears their teen expressing feelings of not quite fitting in, or being torn between two cultures or friend groups. The teen might say something like, “I feel like I have to act like a different person around my dad’s family,” or show a new, passionate interest in fairness and social justice issues.
Age Experience
A younger teen (13-14) will likely connect most with the adventure plot, the cool invisibility power, and the romantic subplot. An older teen (15-17) is more likely to engage deeply with the social commentary on identity, passing, and systemic injustice, relating to Myra’s complex internal journey.
What Makes It Special
Unlike many YA fantasies where oppression is a backdrop, this book's core is the nuanced exploration of a mixed-race identity. The invisibility power is a brilliant and specific metaphor for the experience of being unseen, of hiding parts of oneself to be accepted, making it a uniquely powerful allegory for the biracial experience.
Read plot summary
Myra is the teen daughter of a high-status Pluma father and a persecuted Flick mother. Flicks have the ability to become invisible and are systematically oppressed by the ruling Plumas. Living a life of privilege, Myra has always hidden her Flick heritage and her ability to “flicker”. When the government enacts harsher laws against Flicks and her own family is threatened, she is forced to confront her dual identity. She becomes involved with a Flick resistance movement, grapples with her own internalized prejudice, and must decide how to use her unique position to fight for justice.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.
Discussion Prompts
1
Myra has the ability to 'flicker' and become invisible, a power she hides for most of her life. How is her power a metaphor for the way people sometimes hide parts of their identity to feel safe or accepted?
2
The Plumas have many privileges that the Flicks do not. Discuss a moment in the book where Myra became aware of her own Pluma privilege. How did it change her perspective or her actions?
3
Myra feels torn between her Pluma and Flick heritage. Do you think she successfully integrates both sides of her identity by the end of the book, or does she have to choose one over the other? Why?
4
At the beginning of the story, Myra believes that staying quiet and hidden is the safest way to survive. How does her understanding of safety and bravery change by the end of the novel?
