past relationship finds home and healing in the words of strong Black writers. A beautiful sophomore novel from a critically acclaimed author and poet that explores how words have the power to shape and uplift our world even in the midst of pain.

When Darius told Angel he loved her, she believed him.

Angel feels out of sync with the rhythms of her new neighborhood. At school, she can't shake the feeling everyone knows what happened--and how it was her fault. The only place that makes sense is Ms. G's class. And as Angel becomes immersed in her revolutionary literature course, the words of Black writers like Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Zora Neale Hurston speak to her and begin to heal the wounds of her past.

Award-winning author Mahogany L. Browne weaves together prose, poems, and vignettes to tell the story of Angel, a young woman whose past was shaped by domestic violence but whose love of language and music and the gift of community grant her the chance to find herself again.