the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life

Overview

In the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life, we meet Maji, a sixteen-year-old African-American teenager from the Bronx who, inspired by MOBY DICK, and overwhelmed by issues of racism, mental health, and complex family dynamics, sets sail on the Hudson in search of a miracle and experiences a coming-of-age journey that blends own-voice insight, social commentary, elements of magical realism.

Reviews

"A Black high school junior tries to escape the sea of chaos around him by finding a miracle in the ocean. . . . The juxtaposition of beauty and horror takes readers on an unpredictable ride full of twists and turns. An imaginative look at teen mental health." —Kirkus Reviews

“In Alcy Leyva’s novel the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life, sixteen-year-old Maji’s New York world is falling apart, and he sets out to sea in search of a miracle. The book is miraculous in its own right, featuring lyrical prose and a kind of dreamlike logic that make Maji’s journey a memorable one.” —Foreword Reviews, Starred Review 

Author Biography

Alcy Leyva is a Bronx-born multi-genre writer whose first two books in the Shades of Hell series, And Then There Were Crows and And Then There Were Dragons, were published by Black Spot Books. His short stories have appeared in the award-winning anthologies A Midnight Clear and Dead of Winter. He currently lives and teaches in New York City.