A dazzling novel about a young Black woman who walks the streets
of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice
system—the debut of a blazingly original voice and “a
soul-searching portrait of survival and hope” (Oprah Winfrey)
“Nightcrawling bursts at the seams of every page and
swallows you whole.” —Tommy Orange, author of There
There
Kiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland
apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have
dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and
prison
But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for
work to pay their rent—which has more than doubled—and to keep
the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and
fed. One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a
stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now
desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further
when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key
witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.
Rich with raw beauty, electrifying intensity, and piercing
vulnerability, Nightcrawling marks the stunning arrival of a
voice unlike any we have heard before.