Devante's life has been changed forever by tragedy, and he can't deal with it. He can't sleep without having nightmares and feels like his life isn't worth living anymore. His parents send him to a special boarding school for kids with emotional problems. There he meets Janina, who makes him feel less alone in the world. But will Devante's terrifying memories and Janina's intense moods come between them? Set at the end of a cold Chicago winter in 1994, 'A Bitter Pill to Swallow' is the story of a boy and girl whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.

Devante's life has been changed forever by tragedy, and he can't deal with it. He can't sleep without having nightmares and feels like his life isn't worth living anymore. His parents send him to a special boarding school for kids with emotional problems. There he meets Janina, who makes him feel less alone in the world. But will Devante's terrifying memories and Janina's intense moods come between them? Set at the end of a cold Chicago winter in 1994, A Bitter Pill to Swallow is the story of a boy and girl whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.

On the edge of the Chicago medical district, the Harrison School for Exceptional Youth looks like a castle in a snow globe. Janina has been there since she was ten years old, and now she's fourteen. She feels so safe inside its walls that she's afraid to leave. Devante's parents bring him there after a tragedy leaves him depressed and suicidal. Even though he's in a different place, he can't escape the memories that come flooding back when he least expects them. Dr. Gail Thomas comes to work there after quitting her medical residency. Frustrated and on the verge of giving up on her dreams, she sees becoming a counselor as her last chance to put her skills to the test. When he founded the school, Dr. Lutkin designed its unique environment to be a place that would change the students' lives. He works hard as the keeper of other people's secrets, though he never shares any of his own. But everything changes late in the winter of 1994 when these four characters' lives intersect in unexpected ways. None of them will ever be the same.

Janina isn't sure she'll ever have a normal life or a boyfriend. This is the fourth year she's spent at a special boarding school for kids with emotional problems. And then she meets Devante, the cute new boy who refuses to speak. For the first time, she feels like she has found someone her age she can relate to. But will Janina's intense moods and Devante's terrifying memories get in the way? Set at the end of a cold Chicago winter in 1994, 'A Bitter Pill to Swallow' is the story of a girl and boy whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.

What caused the bloody massacre within the walls of a small Baltimore city church? A thin trail of circumstances lead to Devonte Harrington, a mid-level drug dealer with a devoted group of young women and block soldiers who surround him at all times. What is his hold over them? And what inspired his legacy of savagery? Son of a selfish teenage mother, and raised primarily by his aunt Angela, Devonte was born in the shadows of the Myers Home for Veterans, and for years hidden from the world like a dirty secret. Could the start of his villainous supremacy begin here? Told through the eyes of Samantha Herrnstein, one of his devotees, we learn her view on how the absence of love spawned his wrath. But as her flare for story holds you captive, be careful, you might miss something. And we promise, you won't see it coming!

In order to understand what color-ism is, one must be apart of the on going problem. Many "African American" individuals in America do still wonder what to call the tone of their skin. Some appreciate "African American" as a race, others still wonder where "African America" is. Some appreciate "black", others only relate black to evil. Then many people will just sit comfortably on the word "nigga", but our ancestors wouldn't approve. There is no real wrong answer. We all have a little of each in us but how do we identify it is the real question.

Janina isn't sure she'll ever have a normal life or a boyfriend. This is the fourth year she's spent at a special boarding school for kids with emotional problems. And then she meets Devante, the cute new boy who refuses to speak. For the first time, she feels like she has found someone her age she can relate to. But will Janina's intense moods and Devante's terrifying memories get in the way? Set at the end of a cold Chicago winter in 1994, A Bitter Pill to Swallow is the story of a girl and boy whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.