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Hard Knocks High: Darkskin and Redbones
"You so black..." repeated over and over in Mahogany Brown's mind like the chorus to a sad song, killing her soul, softly.
"You so black..." is how the joke begins. When the joke ends, laughter, teasing and bullying follows. Not to mention getting dumped by her then boyfriend, Tafari, in favor of Malikah, the redbone goddess that all the boys worship. From that point on, Mahogany despises the dark brown skin she's in. With her self-esteem low and her self-hatred high, Mahogany meets a charming corner thug named Makai.
Mahogany's attraction to Makai is more than just the idea of being the girlfriend of a thug that she often day-dreams about and immortalizes on her drawing pad. It's the freedom he offers. Freedom from feeling ugly and unwanted. Freedom from being sheltered from the street life. But with freedom, comes a price.
Soon, Makai's true intentions are revealed and Mahogany has a choice to make. Will Mahogany choose Makai or her family? Her new friend, Karisma, or her morals? Will she get revenge on Malikah for stealing her man? The wrong choice can mean the end of the life as Mahogany knows it.
"You so black..." is how the joke begins. When the joke ends, laughter, teasing and bullying follows. Not to mention getting dumped by her then boyfriend, Tafari, in favor of Malikah, the redbone goddess that all the boys worship. From that point on, Mahogany despises the dark brown skin she's in. With her self-esteem low and her self-hatred high, Mahogany meets a charming corner thug named Makai.
Mahogany's attraction to Makai is more than just the idea of being the girlfriend of a thug that she often day-dreams about and immortalizes on her drawing pad. It's the freedom he offers. Freedom from feeling ugly and unwanted. Freedom from being sheltered from the street life. But with freedom, comes a price.
Soon, Makai's true intentions are revealed and Mahogany has a choice to make. Will Mahogany choose Makai or her family? Her new friend, Karisma, or her morals? Will she get revenge on Malikah for stealing her man? The wrong choice can mean the end of the life as Mahogany knows it.
178 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
14 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Brown
191 books9 followersKevin Brown recently won the Permafrost Literary Journal's Midnight Sun Fiction Contest, the Touchstone Fiction Competition, and placed third in the Cadenza Fiction Contest. He has published work in GUD, Space & Time, Murky Depths, Morpheus Tales, sub-TERRAIN, Rosebud, and Underground Voices. His website is: http://www.invisiblebodies.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 4, 2018
Awesome book. Can relate to this book
February 18, 2021
Hard Knocks High was a great book that handles one of the hardest topics in literature, race. The story opens up with a 16 year old girl, Mahogany, who has always been insecure regarding her complexion. When her ex’s new girlfriend makes a rude comment that gets a lot of attention, Mahogany despises her skin even more. Throughout the book we’re on a journey and see how her low self-esteem and her high self-hatred, lands her in problems bigger than skin tone. This book was worth five stars because of how well constructed and how relatable it was to me. It’s a great read and I suggest it to everyone.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews