Sun Keep Rising

Contents Cover Other Titles Title Page Copyright Contents Dedication Epigraph Part 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Part 2 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Part 3 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Acknowledgments About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List ii iii iv v vii 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 101 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 147 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 229 231 
 
 
 
 
 ALSO BY KRISTEN R. LEE
 Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 Text copyright © 2023 by Kristen R. Lee
 Cover art copyright © 2023 by Chisom Jacinta Mbewu
 All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
 Crown and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
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 Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
 ISBN 9780593309193 (hardcover) — ISBN 9780593309209 (library binding) — ebook ISBN 9780593309216
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 ep_prh_6.0_142264361_c0_r0
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Also by Kristen R. Lee
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 Epigraph
 
 
 Part 1
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 
 Part 2
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 
 Part 3
 
 Chapter 20
 
 
 Chapter 21
 
 
 Chapter 22
 
 
 Chapter 23
 
 
 Chapter 24
 
 
 Chapter 25
 
 
 Chapter 26
 
 
 Chapter 27
 
 
 Chapter 28
 
 
 Chapter 29
 
 
 Chapter 30
 
 
 Chapter 31
 
 
 Chapter 32
 
 
 
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 
 
 _142264361_
 
 
 
 To my mama
 
 
 
 
 
 
 If something isn’t done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed.
 —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER 1
 IT CAN’T HAPPEN the first time.
 Don’t believe that shit. That’s why I got this baby in one hand while I’m trying to help hang up my high school graduation decorations with the other.
 
 
 
 
 
 The banner hangs above the kitchen entryway. The missing S ain’t noticeable to my country-ass family. My house is packed with aunties, cousins, and longtime neighbors. This many people didn’t even show up to my baby shower. That’s to be expected, though.
 Babies common around here. College ain’t.
 To be honest, college hadn’t ever been on my radar. Not until my girl Savannah got into the top school in the country, a whole year early at that. Then everyone began looking at me. If I was her right hand, that meant I could do it too, right? Wrong. High school ain’t the same as college—everyone knows that. At my high school you can pass a class just by being quiet and pretending that you want to learn. That wasn’t me, though. Being smart is my thing. I can play ball, too, but not good enough for an athletic scholarship. Nah, I have to use my brain. That’s why people