Endangered

Cush's engaging debut, set in the courtroom, employs an intriguing premise. In January 2009, Malik Williams is an African-American 15-year-old living in poor, rundown west Philadelphia, when the police wrongfully arrest him for the fatal shooting of Troy Barnes, a school friend and known drug dealer. Janae, a single mother raising Malik and working as a hospital cafeteria cashier, accepts the offer from the Center for the Protection of Human Rights%E2%80%94headed by the passionate veteran attorney Roger Whitford%E2%80%94to defend Malik. Roger presents Janae with an unusual, though not original, defense, arguing how "African-American boys ought to be deemed legally endangered" and views Malik's homicide case in a broader context as the catalyst to effect much-needed black male juvenile prison reform. Calvin Moore, an ambitious African-American attorney at a large prestigious law firm and from the same rough neighborhood as the Williams, signs on as the co-counsel. As Roger and Calvin maneuver to block the prosecution's attempts to transfer Malik's case to adult court with a higher rate of convictions, Janae uses the neighborhood grapevine to learn the truth about what happened at Troy's murder scene. Cush has crafted a compassionate story that commands the reader's attention. (July)