Adventures of a Maybe Human by Michele Montgomery follows Patrice Johnson, a six-year-old in Los Angeles, whose life becomes the intersection where human love and unseen design meet. Her father, Keyvon, works hard to protect her in every way, including teaching her how to move through the world as a person of color. Charlene Stine, a mother recovering from heart surgery, begins to sense a connection to Patrice’s family that pulls her into matters no ordinary explanation can account for. Meanwhile, Crossing Guard, an invisible blob on a mission, keeps misreading the purpose of his assignment as Kitsune, who placed Crossing Guard, watches as everything unfurls. There is one thing that remains throughout, and that's Keyvon's willingness to do anything to save his daughter.

Michele Montgomery’s Adventures of a Maybe Human is speculative fiction with a rare feel for heart, and each turn widens the supernatural reach through scenes of daily life. There's one where Patrice’s zoo visit shows Montgomery’s gift for writing a child’s mind, as, of all things, an alligator gives her a safe route back toward curiosity. All the characters have a voice and an arc, and each grows exponentially within their role. Charlene's visit to Echo Park affects her body before she can explain the pull, and when Crossing Guard’s wind moves through small objects with frightening purpose, Kitsune then gives his arc its finest shift. Bad people want to do terrible things, but Montgomery keeps bringing us back to the goodness in people, even when they are strangers to each other.

In Michele Montgomery’s Adventures of a Maybe Human, after Los Angeles architect Keyvon Johnson has a cataclysmic run-in, he is put on the path of Charlene Stine, a mother recovering from heart failure. The goal is clear but achieving it is not: protect Patrice, Keyvon's young daughter who bore witness to the unthinkable. That spells trouble, and trouble is amplified when a supernatural trainee called Crossing Guard also has the child on his radar after misreading a mission from Kitsune, his foxlike mentor. As Charlene manages intense side effects and Keyvon races to save his daughter, Crossing Guard faces his own existential crisis and Kitsune scrambles to put it all together, we see two distinct worlds both closing in on little Patrice—but only one can have her.

Michele Montgomery’s Adventures of a Maybe Human is an incredibly unique speculative novel. A full cast of characters gives three first-person points of view: Kitsune, Keyvon, and Charlene. I like that the author never ignores the fact that a little girl's life is at risk, and the unmistakable virtue that so many individuals across different spectrums are looking out for her is really heartening. My favorite character is actually one of the characters who isn't totally Team Patrice, and that is the non-human blob, Crossing Guard, who has to cross Patrice over to become more than a blob himself. The settings are perfect, from a Craftsman house with African drums and handmade furniture, to a gun show with paper targets and pepper spray. Intelligently written, immersive, and entertaining, readers who enjoy supernatural thrillers with wit and bees will adore this book. Very highly recommended.