First published 2020
Amal Shahid lives for art and poetry. At his diverse art school, teachers see him as disruptive and unmotivated despite his talent. One night in a gentrifying neighborhood, an altercation spirals into tragedy. When the dust settles, the justice system treats white boys as "just being boys" but brands Amal differently. At sixteen, he faces conviction for a crime he never committed. Prison walls close around his once bright future. Despair and rage threaten to consume him in this place designed to strip away his humanity. Amal discovers his salvation in the same place it always lived: his words and his art. Through poetry and creativity, he fights to maintain his identity and prove his innocence. The story he thought would be his life ended the day they locked him away. Now he must write a new one. This novel in verse explores whether truth can survive in a system built to silence it, and whether one boy's voice can rise above the machinery of injustice.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, american-fiction, african-american, crime, contemporary, social-justice, activism
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, redemption, underdog
Setting: United States
Period: 21st Century
400 pages · Hardcover · Versify
Content warnings: racism, violence