I’m excited to announce my next book Little Brother: Love, Tragedy, and My Search For the Truth, out May 24, 2022 and now available for pre-order.
Little Brother is a true-crime memoir about my relationship with Jorell Cleveland, my mentee in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program for 11 years. When he was murdered near his home in Ferguson in 2016, his unsolved case languished. His family and I desperately needed to know who killed him, so I launched an investigation.
Learning the truth required me to uncover a heartbreaking cycle of poverty, poor education, drug trafficking, and violence. It was the most nerve-wracking and difficult book I’ve ever written, but also the most rewarding. You can read an excerpt here, about the St. Louis rap star Huey, who was murdered just blocks from where Jorell died.
Watch for my upcoming spring and summer book tour updates. In the meantime, on this Black Friday, please consider these gift options.
The CDC recently announced 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in the previous year. That’s the most ever, by a lot. These deaths are driven by fentanyl, and I was quoted in The New York Times about the crisis. I also talked to Billboard about the strange fentanyl “needle-spiking” theory in the Astroworld tragedy.
Fentanyl, Inc. is a book whose relevance has only grown since its publication.
Original Gangstas didn’t make big waves when it came out, but it’s become one of the best-selling hip-hop books of all time, not just in America but around the world. The French version is currently in the works, and it’s also been translated into Russian, German, Hungarian, and Japanese. Here’s a Vice excerpt about how Tupac and Biggie went from friends to deadly rivals.
Talk to you soon!
It was tragic to hear of your experience with your Little Brother. Looking forward to reading this book when it comes out. Thanks for your continued efforts to highlight the drug epidemic.