Ruin Road

Ruin Road

By Lamar Giles

Scholastic

2024

Cade Webster lives between worlds. He’s a standout football star at the right school but lives in the wrong neighborhood--if you let his classmates tell it. Everywhere but home, people are afraid of him for one reason or another. Afraid he’s too big, too fast, too ambitious, too Black.

Then one fateful night, to avoid a dangerous encounter with the police, he ducks into a pawn shop. An impulse purchase and misspoken desire change everything when Cade tells the shopkeeper he wishes people would stop acting so scared around him, and the wish is granted...

At first, it feels like things have taken a turn for the better. But it’s not just Cade that people no longer fear--it’s everything. With Cade spreading this newfound “courage” wherever he goes, anything can happen. Fearless acts of violence begin to escalate in both his neighborhood and at school. With the right moves, and brave friends, Cade might have one -- and only one -- chance to save all he loves. But at what cost? After all, the devil’s in the details.

Lamar Giles

Lamar Giles is the author of the acclaimed novels Ruin Road, The Getaway, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer and has written for globally beloved brands like DC Comics, Star Wars, and National Geographic. He is a three-time Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award nominee, a recipient of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's Youth Literary Award, and founding member of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. He resides in Virginia with his family where he currently serves as Writer in Residence at the College of William & Mary.