2006 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

After his father is murdered, Keith and his mother try desperately to pick up the pieces of their lives. But his father’s death has left them devastated -- both emotionally and financially. Forced to leave Brooklyn and move in with his aunt, Keith urgently clings to every last reminder of his dad, discovering comfort in his own music and that of the late legend -- and his father’s idol -- Jimi Hendrix. In Jimi’s music, Keith finds solace and brief moments of reprieve from his chaotic life. But just as he begins to get a handle on his father’s death, he discovers the secrets of his father’s life -- secrets that threaten to tear apart what’s left of his fragile family.

Read Chapter 1.

Jaime Adoff is the author of the critically acclaimed The Song Shoots Out of My Mouth and Names Will Never Hurt Me. He is the son of the late Newbery Award–winning author Virginia Hamilton and renowned poet Arnold Adoff.