Boys and Girls Screaming

by Kern Carter

Overview

When Ever’s father passes away suddenly, she is devastated. Not long after that, her mom has a stroke and Ever’s anguish becomes almost unbearable. That’s when she gets the idea to form a group she calls Boys and Girls Screaming. Ever brings together kids from their school who have suffered trauma so they can share their stories and begin to heal.

Although the others find solace in the group, Ever tumbles further into depression until she reaches a breaking point. As the group learns the true source of Ever’s pain, they jump into action to help her find a way out.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770866454
Publisher:	Cormorant Books
Publication date:	04/19/2022
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kern Carter is a full-time freelance writer and author who has written and self-published two novels — Thoughts of a Fractured Soul (novella) and Beauty Scars. Kern also has writing credits in Forbes, the New York Times, Global Citizen, Elle Magazine and Fatherly.com, along with having ghostwritten several books. When he's not penning novels or ghostwriting, Kern is curating stories through CRY, his online publication that creates space for artists to navigate through the emotions of their creative journey. He lives in downtown Toronto with his 18-year-old daughter.

Editorial Reviews

… Once the group sessions start, Carter’s writing really grips. … The characters are honest and authentic, their voices wavering between childhood and maturity, their emotions alternating between feeling shattered and pretending to be whole.

Quill & Quire

"With unusual comparisons, quick dialogue and realistic teen language, Carter’s Boys and Girls Screaming leaves readers ultimately hopeful that connecting and speaking out can help young people begin to deal with trauma. Recommended."

CM Reviews

2022-03-02
Two friends create an informal support group that unearths more trauma than it heals.

Candace was 5 when her mother left her alone in their Oakville, Ontario, apartment. It was two days before her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Heard, found her, took her home, and eventually adopted her. Candace was transported from a life of emotional and physical neglect to an environment of material affluence and love. After they met in first grade, she developed a deep bond with Ever, who became as close as a sister. This relationship is later tested when Ever’s father dies, her mother has a stroke, and Candace’s birth mother returns. The novel follows the two girls through the years to high school, when their inability to deal with their mental health issues on their own becomes the impetus for the creation of the group they call Boys and Girls Screaming; Candace and Ever invite students with a known history of trauma to participate. The story is told primarily in the voices of Candace and Jericho, Ever’s younger brother, although Ever is a unifying character whose presence looms larger than life as she becomes the catalyst for major events in the story. Through this work, readers learn about the sticky nature of trauma. Some characters use drugs to self-medicate. Candace, Jericho, and Ever are Black; the Heards are White.

A thought-provoking read about the pain involved in healing childhood trauma. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews