My name is Barbara Binns and I am proud to have been the YA member of the Romancing the Genre team since it's inception. My newest book is called COURAGE, and will be released in spring of 2018 by Harper Childrens Books. Today, I am following the
advice on Discoverability I posted for RTG back in 2015 and beginning my promotion efforts. Romancing The Genres is one of several sites hosting the cover reveal of my debut MG novel: COURAGE
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| Don't you love this cover!! | |
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Courage is a book young people, along with parents, teachers, librarians and anyone who cares about young people will want to look into. It's about friendship, and family, that very first crush and the need to be the best. In last month's post about
The Importance of School, I told you a little about Courage and how it's march toward publication progressed. For this month, here's a brief overview:
The story inside COURAGE
T’Shawn Rodgers lives on Chicago's south side. He is rapidly approaching his thirteenth birthday, and the magic of finally being a real teenager. T, as his friends call him, used to be afraid of water. Now he wants to be a springboard diver more than anything.
OK, it's true, T would like to see his best friend cured from sickle cell disease. That inherited illness sometimes leaves Dontae on the ground in agony. And T would give almost anything for a birthday kiss from Carmela, the prettiest girl in school (if you don’t believe she is, ask her).The first time T dives off the end of a springboard, he moves from wanting to impress Carmela to needing to experience that feeling of free flying as often as he can. The kid with no interest in sports suddenly dreams of becoming a medal winner. There could be Olympic gold in his future. His south-side of Chicago neighborhood might even throw a parade just for him.
Diving lessons cost money. T's mother is still paying off the medical bills from his father’s unsuccessful fight with cancer. She also has to send care packages to her other son, Lamont. Once, Lamont was T’s hero. He taught T to stop being afraid of water. Without his big brother, T might never have survived the pain of losing their father. But Lamont chose to join a gang and left a trail of violence on the streets before his arrest. His actions pulled T into danger, fear, and even more pain and loss.
Before he can join the diving team, T learns that Lamont has been released from prison. Instead of a diving board, T's birthday present becomes sharing a bedroom with his violent brother. Lamont claims he is different now, but T finds him sneaking out at night. The rise in crime following his return can't be just coincidence. The possibility of danger to Carmela, Dontae and T's younger sister leaves him determined to do something.
There are many types of COURAGE
It takes courage to step up to a bad guy to protect what’s left of your family. Even more courage when that bad guy was once your personal hero. He also has to find the courage to do the unthinkable, fighting his brother to protect what’s left of his family. Most of all, it takes courage to agree to forgive.
PS: T also has to mount that springboard and dive his heart out.
Tell me what you think
COURAGE is defined as the ability to do something that frightens you, and displaying strength in the face of pain or grief. That word accurately describes the kids in this modern-day retelling of the prodigal son story, from the point of view of the good brother who stayed home.
I showed a bit of the opening last month.
Click HERE for an excerpt showing Lamont's homecoming.
Tell me how you feel. About the book, the characters, and ways you see ordinary young people displaying extraordinary courage?
