OUR FRIENDSHIP MATTERS & Giveaway

 

Our Friendship Matters

by Kimberley B. Jones

 

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GENRE: Young Adult

 

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BLURB:

 

Leah and Sasha are 17-year-old friends who had been close to one another since elementary school, but as the summer approaches they find their friendship tested in ways they never anticipated.

   

Following graduation, Sasha’s privileged life and perception of the world around her is suddenly altered when an old childhood friend persuades her to join in a campaign against an injustice after his best friend is killed by a cop.

   

But joining the protest has unforeseen consequences for Sasha, distancing her from Leah, who becomes jealous of Sasha’s new friends and finds herself on the opposing side, protesting alongside her group of new white friends.

  

 As the tension mounts between the two bitterly opposed factions, a tragedy strikes and threatens to make Sasha and Leah enemies. Can they find a way to resolve their differences, putting them to the side and learn to accept each other’s viewpoints? Or is their long friendship finished for good?

 

 

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EXCERPTS:

 

“Hey, what’s going on? Victoria called me and told me you were trying to get back at the people who hurt Rashad?”

 

“Yeah, they are going to pay for what they’ve done.”

 

“You shouldn’t take things into your hands, Ricardo.

 

If you know who it did, just go to the police.”

 

“Did you hear what you just said? The police! The police can’t do a damn thing. Hell, all they do is make matters worse. Look where Mitchell is, and Rashad could’ve been killed as well from some stupid white boys trying to make a point.”

 

“Ricardo, can’t you see? That’s what they want you to do, and you guys haven’t been innocent either. I know about the vandalism. So, what role are you playing? None of this is bringing justice to Mitchell.”

 

Ricardo’s eyes were bloodshot red and tears flowing from his face. “Yeah, but you wouldn’t understand. You’ve been living in a bubble your entire life. Your parents have good careers, and you went to a good school that never even mentioned racism or anything, probably only during Black History Month. You have white friends, and I bet you never even in your whole life turned on your television to look at the news to see what’s going on in this world. We’ve been fighting this world since the day we left our parents’ womb. There are black boys being killed at least once a week and this time it happened to be my best friend.”

 

“Yes, you are so right, but when I saw you that night downtown protesting for a good cause, I admired what you were doing. Because of my curiosity, I lost my friends because I wanted to do this with you. But everything changed for me because, the night I protested with you guys, I saw so many groups. I felt that we should all be united and fighting for justice together.

 

This should be between the police department and protestors, not making it personal or about whether you just care about black lives only or white lives only. This should be about the innocent lives that have been taken. What you and your friends are doing is wrong. There is no justice in vandalizing the homes of people who have different opinions or views than you. One thing my grandma taught me is every dog has its day. You can’t take matters into your own hands, Ricardo.”

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Kimberley is a professional early childhood educator. She was born in the small town of Saint George, South Carolina, on September 12, 1982. Graduated from Woodland High School in 2000, Benedict College in 2004 with B.S., Child & Family Development, and from Ashford University in 2013 with a Masters in Early Childhood Education.

 

After receiving her education and being a military spouse, she held several jobs as a preschool teacher and a preschool director, but she wanted to her education to use by writing children’s books. She wrote her first book in college for her children’s literature course. She has self-published several children books on Amazon.

 

Currently, she is branching off into writing fiction YA, NA, and A novels on issues in society. She loves writing and would not change it for nothing in this world She is now published by Rhetoric Askew. Kimberley is the author of Our Friendship Matters.

 

https://www.kimberleybjones.com/

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-boyd-jones-88454a56/

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