Blue and neon blue cover of a book featuring roller skates

UNDER THE NEON LIGHTS

A Novel by Kimbilio Fellow ARREL VINSON

Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman lives for Saturdays at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. On these magical nights, Jae can lose herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people—old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves.

One Saturday, as Jae skates away her worries, she crashes into the cutest boy she’s ever seen. Trey’s dimples, rich brown skin, and warm smile make it impossible for her to be mad at him though. Best of all, he can’t stop finding excuses to be around her. A nice change for once, in contrast with her best friend’s cold distance of late or her estranged father creeping back into her life.

Just as Jae thinks her summer might change for the better, devastating news hits: Westside Roll is shutting down. The gentrification rapidly taking over her predominantly Black Indianapolis neighborhood, filling it with luxury apartments and fancy boutiques, has come for her safe-haven. And this is just one trouble Jae can’t skate away from.

ARRIEL VINSON

KIMBILIO FELLOW AND AUTHOR

Arriel Vinson is a Reese’s Book Club LitUp Fellow and Midwesterner who writes about being young, Black, and in search of freedom. She earned her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College. Her poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in Kweli Journal, Catapult, The Rumpus, Waxwing, and others. Arriel is a Tin House YA Scholar, Highlights Foundation scholarship recipient, and 2020 Walter Grant recipient. Under the Neon Lights, a YA novel-in-verse, is her debut. You can connect with her on social media at @arriwrites and find her work at arriwrites.com.

ARRIEL’S WEBSITE

Five Questions for ARRIEL VINSON

The setting came first. I knew that I wanted to write a book about the roller skating rink and I knew how much it meant to me during my childhood. But I didn’t know who the characters were or what they cared about.

I had written a short story in my MFA program surrounding the skating rink, and it was about female friendship at its core. That story is what helped me understand what Under the Neon Lights needed to be. From there, I realized that I wanted to write about first love, building community, and what friendship looks like when you’re a teenager. I wanted to emphasize the importance of third spaces and how the people we love shape them. In some ways, the setting is the story. It is the reason I came to the page every day. But in other ways, it’s not about the skating rink at all. It’s about any place we feel safe in. Any place we can call home.

First, the most important part was the verse. I really wanted to make sure the verse sung and flowed, and that the rhythm felt like skating itself. It’s really difficult to write in verse, especially as a super talkative person. I don’t always know when to cut back. It was important, though, to figure it out. It was crucial that I studied poetry as much, if not more than, I studied fiction–to do the genre justice.

The other most important part was staying true to my character. In earlier drafts of this novel, Jaelyn was a girl who protested and made her voice heard from the very beginning. But I really didn’t think that’s who my character was. My character is shy, and in Under the Neon Lights, begins as a character who is unsure of the things she deserves in this world. By the end of the story, I wanted her to become someone who learned her self-worth. I wanted her to become someone who knew the power of her voice. And for this book, that didn’t look like taking to the streets. That looked like finding other models for how to stand up for her community.

I had the hardest time writing about the friendship. It was difficult because I’ve been through my fair share of friendship breakups and I wanted to depict how heartbroken a person can be from those, while also making sure that neither of the characters were irredeemable. In earlier drafts, her bestie Noelle was a complete villain. But in the final cut, I wanted to explore a friendship that had been through a lot but also a friendship that knew when to forgive. There’s power in forgiveness. There’s also power in knowing when you should forgive someone but not allow them back into your life. In this friendship story, they have to make the decision about if they want to let each other back in. But as I was writing, it was difficult to understand what Jaelyn wanted, what Noelle wanted, and if that outcome would negatively impact either one of the characters.

 Leah Johnson: She’s a Kimbee as well. I admire Leah for her storytelling, her commitment to building and sustaining community, and her ability to plot. She’s an iconic author, businesswoman, and educator–you can have one conversation with her, or read one of her books, and learn so much. Every time I read one of her books, I’m laughing and crying and thinking about the world in different ways. Only special authors can do that.

Jacqueline Woodson: Jacqueline Woodson is one of the greatest authors of all time, and I mean that. No matter how many books she writes, her craft never lacks. Her language is never lazy. Reading a Jacqueline Woodson novel is like being transported into the body and mind of her characters. And outside of the writing, she shows up for the children she writes for. I hope to be as impactful to children as she is, one day.

Kiese Laymon: I have never heard any author make revision sound good, except for Kiese Laymon. Not only is he an author who never stops perfecting his craft, but he’s an author who has made me reconsider the opportunities revision allows me. Most of my friends know that I’m not the biggest nonfiction reader, but I will devour any of his essays, memoirs, and anything else he wants to write.

One thing about me, I’m always going to have a steak dinner to celebrate a huge moment! I would love to go to a nice steakhouse in town with all of my friends and family, and just celebrate the fact that I have been working on a book for a million years and it’s finally out in the world. The steak dinner also needs to come with dessert –preferably a brownie or something with ice cream.