When you can’t stay silent forever
Caribbean Life, OCTOBER 15-21, 2021 43
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
You’d like an explanation,
please.
Why something is done or
not, why permission is denied,
you’d like to hear a simple reason.
You’ve been asking “Why?”
since you were two years old
but now the older you get, the
more urgent is the need to
know — although, in the new
book “Things We Couldn’t Say”
by Jay Coles, there could be a
dozen becauses.
Sometimes, mostly when he
didn’t need it to happen, Giovanni
Zucker’s birth mother
took over his thoughts.
It wasn’t as though she was
the only thing he had to think
about. Gio was an important
part of the basketball team at
Ben Davis High School; in fact,
when he thought about college,
he hoped for a basketball
scholarship. He had classes to
study for, two best friends he
wanted to hang out with, a little
brother who was his reason
to get up in the morning, and
a father who was always pushing
for help at the church he
ran. As for his romantic life,
there wasn’t much to report:
Gio dated girls and he’d dated
guys and he was kinda feeling
like he liked guys more.
So no, he didn’t want to
think about his birth mother.
The woman who walked out on
the family when Gio was a little
kid didn’t deserve his consideration
at all. There was just no
time for the first woman who
broke his heart.
It was nice to have distractions
from his thoughts. Gio’s
best friends had his back. He
knew pretty much everybody in
his Indianapolis neighborhood.
And the guy who moved across
the street, a fellow b-baller
named David, was becoming a
good friend.
A very good friend.
David was bi-sexual, too.
But just as their relationship
was beginning, the unthinkable
happened: Gio’s birth
mother reached out, emailed
Book cover of “Things We Couldn’t Say” by Jay Coles.
him, wanted to meet with him,
and he was torn. She said she
had “reasons” for abandoning
him all those years ago, and
her truth was not what he’d
imagined…
There are a lot of pleasant
surprises inside “Things We
Couldn’t Say.”
From the start, author Jay
Coles gives his main character
a great support system, and
that’s an uniquely good thing.
Gio enjoys the company of people
who want the best for him,
and it is refreshing that even
the ones who are villains do
heroic things.
Everyone in this book, in
fact, has heart, and that softens
the drama that Coles adds
– which leads to another nice
surprise: there is no overload of
screeching drama here. Overwrought
teen conflict is all but
absent; even potential angsts
that Gio might notice in his
urban neighborhood are mentioned
but not belabored. This
helps keep readers focused on a
fine, relatable, and very realistic
coming-of-age story line.
This book is aimed at readers
ages 12-and-up, but beware
that there are a few gently
explicit, but responsibly written,
pages that might not be
appropriate for kids in the lower
target range. For older kids
and adults, though, “Things
We Couldn’t Say” offers plenty
of reasons to love it.
“Things We Couldn’t
Say” by Jay Coles
c.2021, Scholastic
$18.99 / higher in Canada
320 pages
“Things We Couldn’t Say”author, Jay Coles. Victoria Ruth Photography
Haitian-American actress awarded City Artist Corps Grant
By Nelson A. King
Queens-based Haitian-American
Actress, Writer, Producing
Artistic Director Magaly Colimon-
Christopher is the recipient of a
$5,000 City Artist Corps grant for
NYC-based working artists disproportionately
impacted by COVID-
19.
The program is presented by
The New York Foundation for
the Arts (NYFA) and the New
York City Department of Cultural
Affairs (DCLA), with support
from the Mayor’s Office of Media
and Entertainment (MOME) and
Queens Theatre.
Colimon-Christopher is recognized
for “Aftershocks: A Tetralogy
of Our Times,” a video compilation
of short plays, animation and
montage art conceptualized by
Colimon-Christopher.
“Aftershocks”, produced by
Magaly’s company Conch Shell
Productions, “explores love and
life in Caribbean American communities
in New York City during
the coronavirus pandemic,”
Colimon-Christopher said.
She said “Aftershocks” will be
premiere online on Thursday, Oct.
14, 2021 at 7:30 pm.; Friday, Oct
15, 2021 at 7:30 pm.; and Saturday,
Oct 16, 2021 at 2:30 pm. EST.
Each screening will be followed by
a live discussion. RSVP for a free
admission link on Eventbrite.
“Aftershocks” is written by Colimon
Christopher and Borinquén-
Chapín-Bronx playwright/director/
poet/producer Juan Ramirez, Jr.