Sponsored by Algonquin Books
Claude McKay Love is just an average kid coping with violence, first love, and societal pressures as he steers his way past the signposts of youth. A young black man born on the South Side of Chicago, Claude just wants a place where he can fit. He decides to escape Chicago, to go to college, to leave the pressure cooker of his hometown behind. But as he discovers, he cannot; there is no safe haven for a young black man in America. Often hilarious and always moving, this fiercely original debut marks the arrival of a brilliant young talent.