by Derek Owusu
First published 2019
A young Black boy in South London fractures his life into fragmented memories, each moment a survival strategy against the weight of family trauma. Raised between foster care and a complex household, he wrestles with racism, masculinity, and the silences that define his world. His mother's unpredictability, his father's absence, and the institutional systems surrounding him create a landscape of emotional minefield. As he grows, these memories become both shield and wound - a way of understanding himself and the generations that came before. Owusu crafts an intimate portrait of resilience, mapping how a child learns to protect himself through remembering and forgetting.
Genres: literary-fiction, african-american, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resilience
Setting: South London
Period: 21st-century
128 pages · Hardcover · Merky Books
Content warnings: racism