Knockout Games

Knockout Games by Neri, G.. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781467732697.

For Kalvin Barnes, the only thing that comes close to the rush of playing the knockout game is watching videos of the knockout game. Kalvins crew always takes videos of their KOs, but Kalvin wants more--something better. He thinks if someone could really see the game for what it was, could appreciate it, could capture the essence of it--that would be a video for all time. The world would have to notice. Thats where Erica comes in. Shes new in town. Awkward. Shy. White. But shes got a good camera and a filmmakers eye. She could learn. Kalvin could open her eyes to the power he sees in the knockout game; he could make her see things his way. But first shell have to close her eyes to everything else. For a while, Kalvins knockouts are strangers. For a while, Erica can ignore their suffering in the rush of creativity and Kalvins attention. Then comes the KO that forces her eyes open, that makes her see whats really happening. No one wins the knockout game. Coretta Scott King Award honoree G. Neri captures the notorious and terrifying knockout game and its players in an unflinching novel thats hard to read and impossible to put down.