Silenced

Since the day Nicola lost her job, she's had to make tough decisions no parent would ever want to make. Now she and her daughter Tinka don't seem to understand each other. They're drifting in two different directions. Tinka feels she can never meet her mother's standards--whether it's chores, school work, or the guys she likes. Worse, her two older brothers, Marquan and Taevon, are always in and out of trouble but are easily let off the hook. To Tinka, it just doesn't seem fair when she tries so hard to please her mother.Falling on hard times, Nicola has to move her family into a notoroius project in Washington D.C. She knows she must work extra hard to keep her children from succumbing to the streets. But with each day comes new challenges, and when Marquan faces murder charges, Nicola turns all of her focus and energy on his case. Meanwhile, Tinka's interest is piqued by a guy who is all too familiar with the streets, leading her down a path her mother dreads.

Kia DuPree, a native of Washington, D.C., holds a B.A. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, as well as an M.A. in English from Old Dominion University. She received a Professional Studies Publishing Certificate from New York University in 2006. She is currently teaching middle school and lives with her husband and son in the DC area.