A Review
Outsiders might consider that 17-year-old Blade has a perfect life. His family has money--lots of money. He drives a sweet ride, lives in an amazing house, and has a girlfriend, Chapel, who is absolutely gorgeous with those amazing blue eyes. But as far as Blade is concerned the only thing right in his life is Chapel. She's his lifeline to surviving each day. She's his solace, his friend. She completes him.
Still, he can't stand being his father's son. In Blade's eyes, his father is nothing short of a failed human being--a washed-up famous musician who loves nothing else but the limelight and partying hard. Being his father's son, Blade believes, ruins his life. Besides, it seems his father loves music, fame, and drugs more than him. Blade's emptiness intensified after his mother died. He still has nightmares. Nothing besides Chapel seems to make his emptiness subside. But a close relationship with her is off limits because her parents don't approve of his messed up family. They don't even acknowledge that he is making different choices.
Still, he can't stand being his father's son. In Blade's eyes, his father is nothing short of a failed human being--a washed-up famous musician who loves nothing else but the limelight and partying hard. Being his father's son, Blade believes, ruins his life. Besides, it seems his father loves music, fame, and drugs more than him. Blade's emptiness intensified after his mother died. He still has nightmares. Nothing besides Chapel seems to make his emptiness subside. But a close relationship with her is off limits because her parents don't approve of his messed up family. They don't even acknowledge that he is making different choices.
It feels
like countless mirrors
crashing around me
in an empty space
where there's
no way in
and no way out.
And then things get worse. His father publicly sabotages his salutatorian speech on his graduation day--ruining his chance to show the world who he is, apart from his father. Blade is told that he's adopted. And he discovers that Chapel is not at all the confidant she purports to be!
Blade decides to go solo in search for his birth mom in far away Ghana. But will he find the inner happiness he's looking for? Will he make peace with his father? Will he forgive Chapel? You'll have to read SOLO, a young-adult novel in verse, with legendary concert references throughout, to find out. SOLO is poetically penned by award-winning authors Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess. It is published by Blink YA Books. Find below a musical video in which Randy Preston sets to music "Excuse Me," an entry found in SOLO.
Blade decides to go solo in search for his birth mom in far away Ghana. But will he find the inner happiness he's looking for? Will he make peace with his father? Will he forgive Chapel? You'll have to read SOLO, a young-adult novel in verse, with legendary concert references throughout, to find out. SOLO is poetically penned by award-winning authors Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess. It is published by Blink YA Books. Find below a musical video in which Randy Preston sets to music "Excuse Me," an entry found in SOLO.
