Every adult in Nevaya's life has let her down, and she will fight anyone to save herself from getting hurt even more deeply.
Imagine a Greek tragedy in the North Philly inner city. My literary/urban novel First Floor on Fire has a passionate anger and emotional complexity that could appeal to audiences who loved Sapphire’s Push (the book Precious is based on) or season four of The Wire. It centers around Nevaya Briggs, a strong, fragile, complex African-American teenager who must fight a predatory principal who thinks he’s saving her, an abusive mother, a collapsing school system and a violent classmate. Her ally is her openly gay brother Donyair, who must also battle a bigoted world while hiding his affair with his older brother. A seasoned teacher, Ms. Dee, tries to watch over Nevaya, but Nevaya has learned to never trust adults. Her spurned principal manipulates events to exact revenge, and the consequences are disastrous.
Different people have told me my story is either very edgy young adult or adult literary fiction. Please help me decide which is the better way to market it. Some readers might reasonably think I should classify First Floor on Fire as "over 18," but I think adventurous 15 - 17 year-olds could get into it.