A 2006 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book

Sam can’t believe it when his father leaves the family to marry another woman -- and a white woman, at that. The betrayal cuts deep -- Sam had been so close to his dad. Now who can he turn to, who can he trust? Even God seems to have ditched him.

Ishmael is his father’s first son and heir, even if his mother is a servant. But then his father is visited by mysterious strangers who claim that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, will finally give birth to a son. Ishmael is worried. And when baby Isaac arrives, Ishmael becomes more isolated from Abraham. Would his father ever betray Ishmael in favor of this new son?

But even as these boys struggle with their own fathers, it is their Father in heaven -- and small everyday miracles -- who sees them through.

Alternating between biblical times and contemporary Brooklyn, New York, Nikki Grimes masterfully tells the stories of two boys separated by time, geography, and culture who struggle with their fractured families. Dark Sons is a story of love and forgiveness, and the comfort brought by faith in difficult times.

Read the complete Prologue and Chapter 1.

Nikki Grimes is the distinguished author of many children’s books, including What is Goodbye?, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and a Parents’ Choice Award winner. She has received many awards, including the 2003 Coretta Scott King Award for Bronx Masquerade, as well as a Coretta Scott King Author Honor in the same year for Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman. Nikki Grimes lives in Corona, California. You can find out more about her at www.nikkigrimes.com.