They Became Silent: Book 1 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781685152338)

The year is 1963, but it's a little different from what you may remember... There is complete segregation, constant civil unrest, and a nationwide "sundown" curfew. Joseph Freeman, a seventeen-year-old black football star, has his whole life flipped upside down when his family moves from Chicago to Cullingland, Georgia-the first racially-integrated town in America. Cullingland is a place of real peace in a country on the brink of another civil war. Black and white people are working together, playing together, and even living next door to one another. To his surprise, Joseph and his family are welcomed with open arms. It's all uncharted waters for Joseph. Between his damaged relationship with his father and his halted football dreams, he has enough on his plate. But eventually, Joseph buys in and embraces this new life. Until... Joseph begins to discover there's something off about his new home. Cullingland has a town secret that no one talks about, and it all starts to unfold. The place he thought to be a paradise for all soon becomes a jungle of deception and lies. Then, right when he finally figures it all out, he's kidnapped, thrown in the back of a truck, and taken to a place where he faces his most difficult tests. And he loses himself... Or, you could say...he finds himself.