A conversation with Nick Brooks, author and award-winning filmmaker from Washington, DC.

Promise Boys is a debut YA thriller by writer-filmmaker, Nick Brooks in which three boys at an urban charter school investigate their principal’s murder during a high-stakes 24-hour day. It is a page-turning, murder mystery thriller that shines a light on themes of social justice and educational inequities, shaping this novel to be both a commercial and literary blockbuster. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Brooks worked as an educator with at-risk youth, and Promise Boys reflects his firsthand experience at how the system can condemn these boys to failure before they’ve even had a chance at success, despite the media fanfare often awarded to urban academies. “Promise Boys is a classic whodunit that mystery fans will love. But even more than that it’s a social thriller, told through the perspective of Black and Brown boys, that highlights the inequity in our education system,” said Brooks. “This is a story that needs to be told, to speak for our kids who far too often are unable to advocate for themselves and to inspire them to tell their own story." An essential book for today's reader, that also has the potential to be an influential part of the literary canon for decades to come.