Sin Lies at the Door

Summary

A Black teen grapples with the fallout from accidentally killing his older brother in this moving novel by the author of The Colored Garden.

Review

Bennett engagingly examines the idea that our actions are often bigger than ourselves while also executing a touching portrait of people who are on the verge of reaching out to one another but are typically too frightened or angry to follow through. —The Austin Chronicle

Plot

Terrell didn''t mean to do it. Then the panic sets in, and it feels so much easier to lie and say a truck full of white boys shot his brother. Of course, he couldn''t have predicted the tension that builds within his community in Evansville, Indiana. There are near riots. His classmates make a public display of support. Then he watches in horror as innocent lives are endangered by vigilante anger.

Unable to live with the guilt of his actions and the effects they have had on others, Terrell slowly comes to terms with the truth—and what it''s done to his parents. But when he finally becomes honest about what happened, Terrell becomes a pariah, and his path to redemption will not be easy.

Characters

Terrell and Tamara are wonderful characters whose complexity and self-determination demonstrate Bennett''s exciting talent. —Publishers Weekly