Slay

Published in 2019, Brittney Morris’s Slay is a young adult realistic fiction novel. Kiera Johnson is a 17-year-old high school senior and one of the few Black students at her school. Outside of school, Kiera leads a secret life as the developer of SLAY, an online multiplayer game specifically for Black gamers. When a dispute in the game leads to a player’s murder, SLAY is thrust into the media spotlight, and Kiera must navigate the consequences while defending her creation against accusations of exclusivity and racism. Morris tells the story from multiple characters’ first-person perspectives, including Kiera and other characters who play SLAY. The novel offers a nuanced look at the complexities and challenges faced by Black teenagers in America through its exploration of the themes of identity, culture, and racism. Its honors include the Amelia Bloomer Book Award and the Westchester Fiction Award.

Citations in this study guide refer to the ebook edition released by Simon and Schuster in 2019.

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of racism, homicide, and the death of a parent. This study guide quotes and obscures the author’s use of the n-word.

Plot Summary

By day, 17-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student at the affluent and mostly white Jefferson Academy. Unbeknownst to her parents, sister, and boyfriend, she is also the developer of a virtual reality game for Black players called SLAY. Kiera started SLAY three years ago with the help of a French woman named Claire who goes by Cicada in the game. On the day of a semifinals tournament in her game, Kiera’s best friend, a white girl named Harper, asks her if she is allowed to get locs. That afternoon, Kiera’s parents come home from work early to see her open her acceptance letter from Spelman, a historically Black liberal arts college for women. She and her boyfriend, Malcolm, plan to attend neighboring HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) in Atlanta, but her acceptance letter doesn’t fill her with the joy she expects. The next day at school, Kiera sees a news story about a 16-year-old named Jamal Rice who was killed over a dispute about SLAY. She blames herself for the boy’s death.

That night, Harper and her younger brother, Wyatt, come to the Johnsons’s house and claim that SLAY is racist because it is only for Black players. Kiera’s younger sister, Steph, explains that it isn’t racist for Black gamers to want an online space for themselves, but the vitriolic Wyatt wants to see SLAY’s developer sued. When Kiera logs back into the game, a character named Q.Diamond offers her some words of encouragement and challenges her to a duel to take her mind off of Jamal’s death.

The next morning, Kiera learns that the question of whether her game is racist is being debated in the news, and she decides to find a lawyer. Annette Coleman, the only Black lawyer in Bellevue, Washington, advises Kiera that a discrimination case could potentially be brought against her and then thanks her for creating SLAY, which she and her children play. Kiera is anxious about the possibility of a lawsuit and her unease grows when a new player, Dred (named for the infamous Dred Scott decision) begins to harass her in the game. That night, she confides to Steph that she is Emerald. Her sister is thrilled because she’s a SLAYer, and Steph suggests that Kiera challenge Dred to a duel to stop his harassment.

The next day, Kiera goes to Harper’s house, and Harper apologizes for putting her on the spot with her questions about locs. She’s done her own research and has decided not to get the hairstyle. Wyatt comes home, and his bigoted comments about SLAY lead Kiera to believe that he is Dred. That night, Kiera holds a city hall meeting in the game where she honors Jamal’s memory and challenges Dred to a duel. If she wins, he has to leave the game forever and abandon his plans of prosecuting her in the real world. If he wins, she promises to hand over her developer rights.

Kiera’s focus on SLAY strains her relationship with her boyfriend. At school on Monday, Malcolm frightens Kiera with furious accusations that she is ignoring him, and Steph makes him retreat by threatening to burn him with coffee. That afternoon, Kiera wins her duel with Dred, but her relief is short-lived when she learns that her tormentor is Malcolm, not Wyatt. Malcolm hacks Kiera’s webcam and posts a photograph of her online along with a death threat. Steph helps her sister accept that he isn’t the person she thought he was and reports him to the police who place a restraining order on Malcolm. Kiera can openly share the world she created with her family now, and her parents are deeply proud of her. One of the game’s players—the CEO of a virtual reality technology company—pays for Kiera to fly to Paris so she can meet Claire and discuss a business partnership with him. A few days later, Kiera and Claire share a jubilant hug as they see each other in person for the first time.