Rising

She should have been able to trust him.... "Night sweats were my dance, especially in the Huston home. They were a continuation of the visions I had experienced in Dorchester, only here, they were much more violent." Set in a wealthy community in northern Michigan, Rising tells the story of nine-year-old Symone, who is adopted by the Hustons"a shameless family with a house at the top of the hill"--after her mother dies of a drug overdose. And though Symone is all too happy to leave the Dorchester projects behind, she can't help but wonder why this rich white couple has come to the ghetto to adopt "a black girl who looked white." Soon Symone discovers that the Hustons aren't saviors but instead demons who have delivered her into another kind of hell. She escapes only to return again years later, realizing that she must face the demons of her past if she has any hope of surviving the future. Rising is an evocative, undeniably potent, and completely unforgettable novel.

Darnella Ford began writing at the age of nine. She has written several screenplays and one teleplay. She is also a Spoken Word artist and performs regularly in the Los Angeles area, where she lives. Rising is her first novel.

"An unpretentious, gritty masterpiece, RISING, Darnella Ford's debut novel, is full of vivid suspense and detail. Ford's protagonist, nine-year-old Symone, a black girl with blond hair and blue eyes, has the experience of someone much wiser. . .Powerful and honest, RISING is a raw and unforgettable tale of survival."---Shawn Evans Mitchell, Upscale