Jonae

Jonae was 13 years old when she became a published author. She has written three books with Shout Mouse Press, Trinitoga, The Day Tajon Got Shot, and most recently, Deena Misses Her Mom.

“I wrote this book because it’s a lot of black teenagers getting killed and [this book] can help kids understand what is going on. It’s part of what will help adults understand this is serious, too.” -Jonae, on the importance of writing The Day Tajon Got Shot

BOOKS BY JONAE

Deena Misses Her Mom

by Jonae, Jesse, Layonnie, and Kahliya of Reach Incorporated

Lately, Deena has been getting angry. A lot. She acts out in school and keeps getting in trouble. Everyone is surprised because she used to be very calm, but that was before her mother went to jail. Her dad, her grandma, and her best friend Josey all do their best to help her out, but Deena doesn’t want to talk about it. Will a day at the carnival with her Dad help her open up?

ISBN: 978-1945434075
Age: 4-9
Lexile: 520L
Page Count: 40
Published: Fall 2017

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Trinitoga: Stories of Life in a Roughed-Up Tough-Love No-Good Hood

by the authors of Beacon House

"Take a step outside and look... You’ll see trash, you’ll see smoking, you’ll see drug dealing, fighting and killing. A lot of people live there, like a whole bunch of vienna sausages in a square can. Some people are bad, but some are good... It’s a roughed up hood, but we all got tough love for each other."

So begins Trinitoga, a novel-in-stories by middle-school authors of Beacon House. These young writers created a fictionalized neghborhood and populated it with an endearing and heartbreaking cast of characters, not unlike people they have encountered in their own lives.

We begin with "Shoota," the gun-wielding "King of the Hood" whose transformation we witness from a sweet and trusting 8-year-old boy to a hardened angry man deserving of his nickname. We meet the mother of his children, Baquisha, who cares about her kids and tells them to do the right thing, but can't set a good example herself. We meet their kids--Rude Boy, Rude Girl, and Tianna--all of whom struggle between love and disappointment and anger in their relationships with their parents and with each other. We meet grandmothers who do right by their grandkids, and friends who stick up for each other, and characters of all ages determined to do better: for their loved ones and for themselves. The result is an emotionally charged and psychologically astute exploration of what it means to grow up in a place like Trinitoga, told from the perspective of highly astute 11- and 12-year-old observers.

This book is powerful. The characters are complex. The conflicts are recognizable and searingly raw. Although these characters face daily stress and trauma that takes its toll, they all want desperately for something better. That yearning is what breaks your heart, gives you hope, and keeps you turning the page.

ISBN: 978-0692266335

Age: 12+
Lexile: HL620L
Page Count: 66
Published: 2014

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The Day Tajon Got Shot

By the Teen Writers of Beacon House

2017 INDIES Winner for Young Author (17 and Under)
2018 Top Fiction Winner - In the Margins Book Awards
Named "10 Books to Read After The Hate U Give" by School Library Journal.

Meet Tajon.

Tajon is sixteen and black. He's tall and skinny, and he has dreadlocks. Tajon works hard and tries his best to be good. He does O.K. in school. He has plans. He's determined.

Tajon is the kind of son who cares about his family. He's the kind of brother who stands up for his sister. He's the kind of kid who dreams big dreams to get himself and those he loves up and out of the hood.

Tajon is the one who gets shot.