Rainbow Black    by Maggie Thrash Order:  USA  Can Harper, 2024 (2024) Softcover, CD, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Maggie Thrash's Rainbow Black tells a story of mass misinformation, lies, false accusations, hysteria, and extremism. Though it's centered on a 1990 US Satanic Panic, it seems even more pertinent today. Its lead is thirteen-year-old Lacey Bond in New Hampshire, where her hippie parents run a rural daycare center. Lacey's life is upended when her parents are arrested and accused of being pedophiles, eventually jailed. Lacey is forced to be evaluated by a therapist who asks very leading questions supposedly to retrieve memories, but really to create them. Authorities believe that she also was molested, though it's not true. The story moves back and forth in time, showing the misery that Lace lives through as a gay teen in the 'Medusa's eye of the American news machine' as her parents trials and retrials continue. After more horror strikes, she ends up in a group home, and (in an ironic twist) has sex with her Child Services caseworker. An old friend, Dylan, joins her there, but is now a girl, Destiny. When Destiny is endangered, Lace leaves the home to save her. They decide to flee to Canada together, and violence ensues en route. They do make a good life together, Lacey as a law clerk and Destiny (now Gwen) as a model - but then the past, and a new media frenzy, catches up with them. Rainbow Black is not an easy read, but it does feel all too real all the way through. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews