Author Description

Winner of the 2025 Audie Award Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award IPPY Award - Outstanding Audiobook of the Year In a time of national division, a teenager faces a choice of conscience-to hold on to the life he's known or find the courage to stand up for the future he's come to believe in. Sit in the director's chair with this Scriptbook Edition, designed to be experienced alongside the full-cast audio drama. Follow every word as fifteen actors bring twenty-four characters to life in a powerful, immersive read-and-listen experience. "Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener." - AudioFile Magazine Wichita, summer 1968. The Civil Rights Movement is a time of turmoil and change. New fair-housing laws and the integration of schools promise equality, but not everyone is ready to accept this new reality. Your father is gone. Your brother is a soldier in Vietnam. Your mother is losing it. Then the Washingtons-a Black family with a daughter your age-cross the invisible redline and move in right next door. You're thirteen, walking into a newly integrated junior high with sports dreams, a temper you can't always control, and classmates unlike any you've ever known: Eric, your wannabe-hippie best friend; Andy, the brainy athlete from Alabama; Leon, who declares he's "The Greatest," like his idol Muhammad Ali; and Ivy, the fearless girl you can't ignore. A man from your mother's past appears-an old flame who fuels her hate and fear. He makes himself at home in your house. He orders you to help build the fence between your yard and hers. Your mother warns, "Stay away from them or you're grounded for life!" As tensions mount at home, haunting music drifts through the fence separating your house from theirs. You decide to step across, entering a world of possibility and danger. Rooted in the author's own journey and the lived experiences of others, this unforgettable dra