I was then on the cusp ofīeginning a three-year gig as part of what was then known as BBYA–YALSA’s Of eighth graders at the local middle school. Just after 9/11, I got involved in booktalking and reading aloud to a bunch Stevie Wonder, “Living for the City” (1973) “I hope you hear inside my voice of sorrowĪnd that it motivates you to make a better tomorrow” Keywords: sister and brother, African American, African American and Black stories, Black Girl stories, Black voices, family, police, mystery, missing person, 14 year old, 15 year old, 16 year old It’s time to step up, to do what the Newport News police department won’t. If I was a better brother, she’d be finishing senior year instead of being another name on a missing persons list. If I hadn’t hung up on her that night, she would be at our house, spending time with Grandma. I, Jay Murphy, can admit that, for a minute, I thought my sister Nicole just got caught up with her boyfriend-a drug dealer-and his friends. No one even blinks twice over a missing black girl from public housing because she must’ve brought whatever happened to her upon herself. When you look like us-brown skin, brown eyes, black braids or fades-everyone else thinks you’re trouble. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Tiffany D. A timely, gripping teen novel about a boy who must take up the search for his sister when she goes missing from a neighborhood where black girls’ disappearances are too often overlooked, from debut author Pamela Harris.
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