{"product_id":"when-they-tell-you-to-be-good-isbn-9781953534934","title":"When They Tell You to Be Good","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eTIME, Washington Post,\u003c\/i\u003e Amazon, BuzzFeed, Poets \u0026amp; Writers, Lambda Literary, \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, them, The Week, Book Riot, \u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer, \u003c\/i\u003eBook and Film Globe, AllArts, and Debutiful Best Book of Fall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the Hurston\/Wright Crossover Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e and Okayplayer Best Memoir of 2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePrince Shakur’s debut memoir brilliantly mines his radicalization and self-realization through examinations of place, childhood, queer identity, and a history of uprisings.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter immigrating from Jamaica to the United States, Prince Shakur’s family is rocked by the murder of Prince’s biological father in 1995. Behind the murder is a sordid family truth, scripted in the lines of a diary by an outlawed uncle hell-bent on avenging the murder of Prince’s father. As Shakur begins to unravel his family’s secrets, he must navigate the strenuous terrain of coming to terms with one’s inner self while confronting the steeped complexities of the Afro-diaspora.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhen They Tell You to Be Good\u003c\/i\u003e charts Shakur’s political coming of age from closeted queer kid in a Jamaican family to radicalized adult traveler, writer, and anarchist in Obama and Trump’s America. Shakur journeys from France to the Philippines, South Korea, and elsewhere to discover the depths of the Black experience, and engages in deep political questions while participating in movements like Black Lives Matter and Standing Rock. By the end, Shakur reckons with his identity, his family’s immigration, and the intergenerational impacts of patriarchal and colonial violence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExamining a tangled web of race, trauma, and memory, \u003ci\u003eWhen They Tell You to Be Good\u003c\/i\u003e shines a light on what we all must ask of ourselves—to be more than what America envisions for the oppressed—as Shakur compels readers to take a closer, deeper look at the political world of young, Black, queer, and radical millennials today.\"Magnetic.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTIME\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Explores his childhood as a queer child of Jamaican immigrants in 2000s Ohio, his travels in response to America’s failure to ‘deliver me what I deserved as a young and curious Black person’ and his reckonings with colonial and patriarchal violence.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Demonstrates a talent for self-examination, not to mention literary prowess. . . . His confidence and self-awareness enable him to identify life lessons in the moment.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Moving, illuminating, occasionally gorgeous and often powerful.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Engaging—a tribute to resilience, and to building a better world.\"—\u003cb\u003ethem\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Unflinchingly honest. . . . a deeply layered creative nonfiction work.\"—\u003cb\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In this autobiography, Shakur, a queer, Jamaican American essayist and activist, charts his political journey as he reckons with his identity, his family’s immigration from Jamaica, and the intergenerational impacts of patriarchal and colonial violence.\"—\u003cb\u003eNew York Public Library\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Excellent.\"—\u003cb\u003eBook Riot\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Powerful. . . . both intellectual and deeply emotional. . . . His memories, presented here with grace and care, will likely help others.\"—\u003cb\u003eThe Columbus Dispatch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Remarkable.\"—\u003cb\u003eOkayplayer\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This memoir of trauma, identity, and race will move you. Move you to tears. Move you to action. Shakur’s exploration of self is revelatory. He is the voice for readers forgotten by publishing.\"—\u003cb\u003eDebutiful\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wrestles with the seemingly impossible task of fighting injustice globally.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Week\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"One of the most moving books of the year, a poignant story of trauma and identity.\"—\u003cb\u003eLargehearted Boy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An intimate view of a young Black man entering a world of pain but coming out the other side with wisdom and hope.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHippocampus Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Fearless.\"—\u003cb\u003eWest Trade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An artful debut.\"—\u003cb\u003eNew Pages\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A scorching, nonlinear journey through a Black man’s search for self.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Electric. . . . moving. . . . captivating. . . . A searing account of self-discovery in the face of structural oppression.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Riveting. . . . What a wonderful and bold voice.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Clear-eyed and unsentimental, an insightful, beautifully written memoir of family and identity.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Confident. . . . sharp, engrossing.\"—\u003cb\u003eGulf Coast\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Prince’s journey is one that emphasizes the value in exploring one’s uncertainties, but also the courage that it takes to grapple with the answers one might find at the end of it all.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLigeia Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Moments of insight that will ring true for many readers, told in well-constructed prose. . . . Shakur is undoubtedly a talented writer with a lot to say.\"—\u003cb\u003eGay \u0026amp; Lesbian Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A story that combines so much—sociocultural criticism, religion, and politics while centering on the microcosm of one Jamaican family and the aftermath of two male relatives’ untimely deaths. . . . Commands a tension and doesn’t release you well after the last sentence.\"—\u003cb\u003eMorgan Jerkins, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThis Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A daring coming-of-age memoir. . . . Shakur claims visionary thinkers and writers right alongside the people in his neighborhood, his family, friends, and comrades as his intellectual and emotional companions, establishing intimate, playful, heartbreaking, and powerful connections across all boundaries. I know we will be hearing much more from this irrepressible new literary voice.\"—\u003cb\u003emadeline ffitch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As inspiring as it is detailed. . . . Intelligently explores the complicated yet straightforward relationship many men of all colors deal with: the subject of race.\"—\u003cb\u003eZeke Thomas\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Shakur writes from a place of honesty that is both searing and poignant in its transparency. His story will resonate deeply for those who hold hidden stories of sadness and grief tightly behind a smiling public mask.\"—\u003cb\u003eKhadijah Ali-Coleman\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In \u003ci\u003eWhen They Tell You to Be Good\u003c\/i\u003e, Prince Shakur attempts to make sense of being born into, flung into, both the maw of American violence and the legendary lures and pressures of Babylon. While reckoning with the history of the murders of family members in Jamaica alongside the American state’s history of murdering its Black beings, Prince charts a path through his queerness, his family history, films, literature, the Black radical tradition, as well as his own twin cultures, until an activist, a rigorously-fought-for sense of morality, and the contours of a lucid self comes into view. This is how I’ve come to locate myself in time and space and legacy, Prince seems to say, while unraveling a map of his own life. With \u003ci\u003eWhen They Tell You to Be Good\u003c\/i\u003e’s evergreen pairing of both finesse and confidence, it’s miraculous to witness Prince assert that he is his own best cartographer.\" —\u003cb\u003eBernard Ferguson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrince Shakur\u003c\/b\u003e is a queer, Jamaican-American freelance journalist, cultural essayist, and grassroots organizer with a BA in Creative Writing from Ohio University. His words have been featured in \u003ci\u003eTeen Vogue\u003c\/i\u003e, Catapult, Level, Electric Lit, and more. In addition, Shakur is the proud writer in residence at Sangam House, Twelve Arts, The Studios of Key West, and La Maison Baldwin.","brand":"Tin House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233845620965,"sku":"NP9781953534934","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781953534934.jpg?v=1767743992","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/when-they-tell-you-to-be-good-isbn-9781953534934","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}