If You Knew My Name: A Novel in Verse

By Lisa Roberts Carter

Book Overview

2024 Silver INDIES Winner for Young Adult Fiction

A novel-in-rap-verse telling the story of 17-year-old Mason Tyndall-- an aspiring rap artist whose mother is a BLM activist. She saw fatal officer-involved shootings as senseless tragedies. He viewed them as trending hashtags -- that is, until he almost became one.

Mason Zy'Aire Tyndall has big dreams. Dreams of sick beats, epic mic-drops, sold out stadiums. Mason's going to be a rap star--and you don't become a rap star by hitting up BLM protests with your mom or sitting at a desk. Mason wants to get out there and make a name for himself, but he'll have to graduate high school first. And he can't do that if he fails his senior year.

Convinced his poetry class is a waste of time, Mason's teacher helps him see just how valuable a couplet and a rhyme can be. But when an unarmed Black man is killed by the police in his city, tensions start to rise--among the cops, the community, and even Mason's peers.

Caught in the middle of increasingly violent conflicts, Mason will have to find a way to use his voice for change...and fast.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1771683600
• ISBN13: 9781771683609
• Release Date: May 2024
• Publisher: Central Avenue Teen
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 7 to Postsecondary