Book
Blurb – THE PEOPLE IN THE PARK
Lauren Moffit is privileged and
overprotected by her wealthy parents.
She is one of the few African American students in a prestigious prep
school in a predominately white neighborhood.
The world is her oyster. Nothing
can prepare her for the devastating scandal that rocks her world when her
father is charged with investment fraud.
Spoiled and self-centered, she struggles to keep her head high. But it’s not until she hears the stories of
the people in the park, where she takes her daily run, that Lauren realizes she
can rise above her family “situation.”
Book
Excerpt – The People In The Park
With
newspaper in hand, from the garage I pushed open the mudroom door. Mrs. Robinson, our cook, had the week off,
cruising the Caribbean with her sister.
Usually when I reached this area, smells of dinner wafted from the
kitchen. Today I didn’t smell anything,
which was unusual because on Mrs. Robinson’s days off, Mom took over and cooked
favorite meals from her childhood. Being
in the kitchen was natural for her, having been taught by my grandmother to
cook up a batch of collard greens, pork chops and gravy, fried corn, salmon
croquettes with rice, fried chicken, barbecued deer ribs, macaroni and cheese,
black-eyed peas, fried okra, you name it, Mom could cook it. Sharing meals from her childhood was her way
of keeping me in touch with my African American heritage since otherwise I
didn’t come in contact with many black people in Fairfield.
None of the familiar smells greeted
me today. Maybe we were going out to
dinner.
I knew something was wrong when I
walked into the kitchen and saw big ugly tears flowing from Mom’s eyes as she
sobbed uncontrollably. She quickly wiped
her eyes. Without saying a word she beckoned for me to sit down at the table
with her. With my eyes I questioned
her. But she didn’t say anything. Instead she grabbed the TV remote and pointed
it at the television set that was mounted on a wall in the kitchen.
I sat there mesmerized as the TV
anchor said, “Peter Williams, Founder of Williams Ortiz L.L.P., was arrested
this morning. He is accused of bilking
clients out of millions of dollars. An
early estimate puts the figure at $300 million.
Arrested along with him were other top officials of the law firm,
including Samuel Ortiz, Chief Financial Officer, and Roger Moffit, Managing
Director. It is not clear the role they
played in the fraud, what is known…” the anchor continued.
But my mind stopped when the
reporter said Roger Moffit. My Dad. Roger Moffit.
It couldn’t be. There had to be
some mistake.
Roger Moffit, who always taught me
right from wrong. Roger Moffit, who
always told me that stealing is wrong.
Not that Roger Moffit. It must be
somebody else.
I sat there in a stupor. Mom reached out her hand and touched mine.
“Your father will be home soon,” she
whispered. “He called right before he
went to the police station. His lawyer
will take care of bail.
About
The Author
Margaree King Mitchell is the author of
WHEN GRANDMAMA SINGS, winner of the 2013 Living The Dream Award, illustrated by
James E. Ransome, HarperCollins. It was
also named one of the best children’s books of 2013. She is also the author of the Coretta Scott
King Honor Book UNCLE JED’S BARBERSHOP, illustrated by James E. Ransome, Simon
& Schuster, and GRANDDADDY’S GIFT, illustrated by Larry Johnson, Scholastic. An award winning musical featuring Broadway
veteran Ken Prymus has been adapted from UNCLE JED’S BARBERSHOP. She is the creator of the EveryBody Has A Dream program, which
empowers students in urban and rural areas to shoot for the stars with
aspirations for their lives. THE PEOPLE
IN THE PARK is her first young adult novel.
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