National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring
novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory
days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies.
For as long as ZJ
can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming,
talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids
he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But
lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having
trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's
mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained
during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the
sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ
contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on
tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all
the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't
remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be
reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?
