Little Brother Out Today!
It’s “pub” day for my new book Little Brother: Love, Tragedy and My Search For the Truth, the story of the murder of Jorell Cleveland, my longtime mentee in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, and my efforts to solve his case. It was difficult to write, but I’m thrilled to bring Jorell’s story to the world.
More information is below, and you can read an excerpt here.
You can buy it from any retailer, but I might suggest this fun promotion: If you order a copy from Rainy Day Books, I’ll not only sign it, but inscribe absolutely any message you’d like. I can make it out to your dad for Father’s Day, transcribe Soulja Boy lyrics, or write something in French. (Just don’t ask for something offensive, like “Go Cubs.”)
If you’ve already bought the book, bless you. Please spread the word on social media, and review it on GoodReads and Amazon.
If you live in St. Louis, see me tomorrow night at the Ethical Society. 7 pm. It’s an incredible venue, and I’m preparing something really special. I’ve even hired a videographer; it seriously feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And if you’re in the Twin Cities, I’ll be at Next Chapter in St. Paul on June 17. More dates to come.
So those are your marching orders. I REALLY appreciate everyone who has supported me in my career. Bringing stories like Jorell’s to life is what I was born to do, and I’m thankful every day to make a living writing books. I couldn’t do it without you.
Little Brother
Love, Tragedy, and My Search for the Truth
By Ben Westhoff
This intimate exploration of race and inequality in America tells the story of a journalist’s long-time relationship with his mentee, Jorell Cleveland, through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and investigates Jorell's tragic fatal shooting.
In 2005, soon after Ben Westhoff moved to St. Louis, he joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and was paired with Jorell Cleveland. Ben was twenty-eight, a white college grad from an affluent family. Jorell was eight, one of nine children from a poor, African American family living in nearby Ferguson. But the two instantly connected. Ben and Jorell formed a bond stronger than nearly any other in their lives. When Ben met the woman who'd become his wife, she observed that Ben and Jorell were "a package deal." They were brothers.
In the summer of 2016, Jorell was shot at point blank range in broad daylight in the middle of the street, yet no one was charged in his death. Ben grappled with mourning Jorell, but also with a feeling of responsibility. As Jorell’s mentor, what could he have done differently? As a journalist, he had reported on gang life, interviewed crime kingpins, and even infiltrated drug labs in China. But now, he was investigating the life and death of someone he knew personally and examining what he did and did not know about his friend. Learning the truth about Jorell and the man who killed him required Ben to uncover a heartbreaking cycle of poverty, poor education, drug trafficking, and violence. Little Brother brilliantly combines a deeply personal history with a true-crime narrative that exposes the realities of life in communities like Ferguson all around the country.
Praise for Little Brother:
"I finished Little Brother in one day. It humanizes people and communities who have long been dehumanized. So much of it hits close to home. Ben Westhoff has taken a lot of crazy risks in his work before, but it’s the emotional exploration here that makes it his bravest work yet.”
—Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist
"Little Brother: Love, Tragedy, and my Search for the Truth is a very good narrative by a very good author.”
—Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution
"The creative and original telling of a young man's life and death on the streets and the Big Brother who sought his killer."
—Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
"With Little Brother, Ben Westhoff takes a relentless journalistic approach to discovering truths about a personal tragedy. Masterful."
—Toriano Porter, Kansas City Star editorial board member