An Absolute Must-Read: Read an Extract from We Are Not Like Them by Jo Piazza and Christine Pride

An Absolute Must-Read: Read an Extract from We Are Not Like Them by Jo Piazza and Christine Pride

When the bullets hit him, first his arm, then his stomach, it doesn’t feel like he’d always imagined it would. Because of course, as a Black boy growing in this neighbourhood, he’d imagined it. He’d thought it would feel hot and sharp, like the slice of a knife; instead, his entire body goes cold, like someone has filled his insides with ice.

The blood is a surprise too, not how much—he’d pictured it pooling around him—but how little, a warm, sticky trickle flowing from under his jacket where he fell to the ground.

He hears heavy footsteps and voices coming closer, two of them. One is calling for an ambulance. They’re talking loud and fast, not to him but to each other.

“Check his ID.”

“No, don’t touch him.”

“Fuck!”

And then: “Where’s the gun? Get the gun!”

One of them says this over and over.

There’s no gun. He wants to explain, but no words come out of his mouth…

Continue reading the extract here…

Buy a copy of We Are Not Like Them here.

Reviews

Timely and Powerful: Read Our Review of We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

Review | Our Review

13 October 2021

Timely and Powerful: Read Our Review of We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

    Publisher details

    We Are Not Like Them
    Authors
    Christine Pride, Jo Piazza
    Publisher
    HQ Fiction
    Genre
    Fiction
    Released
    05 October, 2021
    ISBN
    9780008334574

    Synopsis

    Told from alternating perspectives, an evocative and riveting novel about the lifelong bond between two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event—a powerful and poignant exploration of race in America today and its devastating impact on ordinary lives.Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia.But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend.Like Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage and Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, We Are Not Like Them explores complex questions of race and how they pervade and shape our most intimate spaces in a deeply divided world. But at its heart, it’s a story of enduring friendship—a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges.
    Christine Pride
    About the author

    Christine Pride

    Christine Pride is a writer, editor, and longtime publishing veteran. She’s held editorial posts at many different trade imprints, including Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, Hyperion, and Simon & Schuster. As an editor, Christine has published a range of books, with a special emphasis on inspirational stories and memoirs, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. As a freelance editorial consultant, she does select editing and proposal/content development, as well as teaching and coaching, and pens a regular column—“Race Matters”—for Cup of Jo. She lives in New York City.

    Books by Christine Pride

    Jo Piazza
    About the author

    Jo Piazza

    Jo Piazza is an award-winning journalist, editor and podcast host. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Marie Claire, Glamour, and other notable publications. She is also the author of Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, How to Be Married, The Knockoff, Fitness Junkie, and If Nuns Ruled the World. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two small children.

    Books by Jo Piazza

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