Fish and Grits

Narrated in the voice of her younger sister, Fish and Grits chronicles the life of Kala Johnson, an African American girl who finds redemption from abuse by eating a forbidden meal. After the death of her father, fourteen year old Kala, an exceptional student who dreams about the future before it happens, takes on the responsibility of raising three younger brothers and a sister while struggling to survive the "concrete jungle" they call home.

Kala, who will do anything to save her siblings from suffering, comes up with a plan to keep them together amidst the challenges of poverty, government interference, and a drug addicted mother. When one of the eight years old twin boys begins to set deadly fires and is saved from the police by their bank robbing neighbor, Kala finds in him a friend and confidante.

Their lives continue to unravel after their mother is killed, but Aunt Charlie, their gay, ex-marine corps uncle, arrives just in time to rescue the family and to show Kala that true parental love really does exist.

Kevin Hart (comedian, actor, writer), Charles Fuller (Pulitzer Prize winning playwright), and Leslie Esdaile Banks (author of the Vampire Huntress Series), all love – “Fish and Grits” – the first novel by independent publisher and author, Tina Smith-Brown.