by Joanna Scott
First published 2002
Jenny Templin fled the city after Kamon Gilbert died on the streets before their son was born. The distance forced her to buy a car. The car led to a job. The job meant leaving her boy with Kamon's parents most days. Work exhausted her, so she drank to unwind before pickup time. One night, too many drinks and bone-deep fatigue sent her car spinning off the road. Now her three year old son has no parents. Two sets of grandparents remain. Jenny's white family wants him. Kamon's black family wants him too. Each side believes they know the right way to raise the child. The boy stands at the center of their competing claims, caught between two worlds that both love him and neither will yield.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: competing-claims, found-family
Setting: City
Period: 21st-century
256 pages · Paperback · The Harvill Press
Content warnings: racism