Put that Anger Away

Anger is just pain wearing a disguise.

Skaar Durand is the middle child in a strict Haitian household in Miami, where life runs on The Three L's: Lekòl, Legliz, Lakay (school, church, and home). He is good at following the rules. He is even better at going unnoticed.

Jahmir Atkins is impossible to miss. Six foot one, long locs worn like a shield, and a temper that clears the hallways of Miami Central High. Everyone sees a threat. Skaar sees something else: a boy who is hurting.

When Skaar steps toward the angry stranger everyone else avoids, an unlikely friendship begins. It grows through basketball, hard questions, and the story of Joseph, the young man rejected by his brothers, sold, forgotten in prison, and raised up by God for a purpose. Before it is over, both boys will have to face what lies beneath the anger and the invisibility: rejection, family pressure, and the question of whether God really sees them at all.

Inside this book:

• A coming-of-age story set in Miami's Haitian and Jamaican communities, with Haitian Kreyòl woven through family life
• The story of Joseph applied to the real struggles teens face today
• Scripture passages from the NLT and ESV
• Personal "Reflections from Behind the Walls" from the author
• Themes of mentorship, forgiveness, baptism, and choosing peace over rage
• A strong fit for youth groups, mentoring programs, Christian schools, and family reading

Written by a mother from behind prison walls, Put That Anger Away is for every young person who has ever felt unseen, rejected, or ready to explode, and for every adult who wants to walk beside them toward something better.