Black Cherokee

In this earnest if underdeveloped first novel from Downing (Saga Boy, a memoir), a girl struggles with her mixed heritage. It’s 1993 in the South Carolina settlement of Etsi, where seven-year-old Ophelia lives with her grandmother on land that was once part of a Cherokee reservation. Due to her mix of Black and Cherokee ancestry, Ophelia is mistreated by her full-blooded Cherokee neighbors. After a nearby cattle ranch pollutes the local river, Ophelia moves in with her aunt Aiyanna, who identifies as Black, in the city of Stone River. As the years pass, Ophelia is no more accepted, and Tejah, a beautiful and popular classmate at her predominantly Black high school, bullies her for her dual identity and for hanging out with fellow “nerd” Durell. She’s delighted when Lucy, a family friend close to her age, invites her to a Baptist church, but she grows disenchanted when Lucy sours on her out of jealousy over the attention she receives from the youth pastor, who celebrates her salvation in front of the whole congregation. Episodes like these are poignant, but secondary characters such as Durell, Lucy, and Tejah are frustratingly flat. Still, Downing satisfies with his portrayal of the complex Ophelia and her attempt to find herself. It’s an affecting if uneven coming-of-age tale. Agent: Chris Casuccio and John Pearce, Westwood Creative Artists. (Aug.)