Loyalty is so excited to welcome Jay Coles and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé to celebrate the release of Things We Couldn't Say! This event is free to attend and will be held digitally via Crowdcast. Click here to register for the event. You can also order a copy of Things We Couldn't Say from our website to be automatically added to the registration list, and there will be an option to snag the book during the event.

From one of the brightest and most acclaimed new lights in YA fiction, a fantastic new novel about a bi Black boy finding first love . . . and facing the return of the mother who abandoned his preacher family when he was nine.

There's always been a hole in Gio's life. Not because he's into both guys and girls. Not because his father has some drinking issues. Not because his friends are always bringing him their drama. No, the hole in Gio's life takes the shape of his birth mom, who left Gio, his brother, and his father when Gio was nine years old. For eight years, he never heard a word from her . . . and now, just as he's started to get his life together, she's back.

It's hard for Gio to know what to do. Can he forgive her like she wants to be forgiven? Or should he tell her she lost her chance to be in his life? Complicating things further, Gio's started to hang out with David, a new guy on the basketball team. Are they friends? More than friends? At first, Gio's not sure . . . especially because he's not sure what he wants from anyone right now.

There are no easy answers to love -- whether it's family love or friend love or romantic love. In Things We Couldn't Say, Jay Coles, acclaimed author of Tyler Johnson Was Here, shows us a guy trying to navigate love in all its ambiguity -- hoping at the other end he'll be able to figure out who is and who he should be.

Jay Coles is the author of critically acclaimed TYLER JOHNSON WAS HERE, a composer with ASCAP, and a professional musician residing in Muncie, Indiana. He is a graduate of Vincennes University and Ball State University and holds degrees in English and Liberal Arts. When he’s not writing diverse books, he’s advocating for them, and composing music for various music publishers. Jay’s forthcoming novel THINGS WE COULDN’T SAY is set to be released this fall with Scholastic.

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is the instant New York Times and IndieBound bestselling author of ACE OF SPADES. She is an avid tea drinker, a collector of strange mugs and a recent graduate from a university in the Scottish Highlands where she studied English Literature. When she isn’t spinning dark tales, Faridah can be found examining the deeper meanings in Disney channel original movies.

Please note Loyalty has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during this virtual event.

Jay Coles and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé for THINGS WE COULDN'T SAY