Sharon Flake

Tow-Kaye just learned that the love of his life is pregnant--and though he knows what the right thing to do is, he's scared to death to do it. Jeffrey hates having a mom who dresses like a teenager, but when another sexy mom moves in next door--well, that's a different kind of problem. In these and twenty-two other short stories and poems, readers plumb the inner lives of African American teenage boys.

In 1953 ten-year-old Octobia May lives in her Aunt's boarding house in the South, surrounded by an African American community which has its own secrets and internal racism, and spends her days wondering if Mr. Davenport in room 204 is really a vampire--or something else entirely.

"In 'The Skin I'm In,' readers saw into the life of Maleeka Madison, a teen who suffered from the ridicule she received because of her dark skin color. For decades fans have wanted to know the fate of the bully who made Maleeka's life miserable, Char. Now in Sharon Flake's latest and unflinching novel, 'The Life I'm In,' we follow Charlese Jones, who, with her raw, blistering voice speaks the truths many girls face, offering insight to some of the...

Paralyzed by guilt, eleven-year-old John Henry must come to terms with the events surrounding his Ma's near drowning and, with the help of his twin sister Hattie, learn to embrace life again.