Pearls In the Sea (Paperback or Softback)

J-Man never planned to be a poet. He planned to survive River Rock, play ball with The Club, keep his head down, make it to eighteen. But when Uncle Bo dies, everything collapses. What's left is a red notebook, a pen, and a question: can words fight back?

Under Mr. Mack's guidance, J-Man studies the tradition-Gwendolyn Brooks, Etheridge Knight, poets who turned pain into resistance. He learns from Polar Bear, a homeless artist whose graffiti speaks truth. He watches Dexter, once the best poet in town, drink himself into irrelevance. And he faces an impossible choice: when your crew demands blood and your notebook demands truth, which one do you serve?

This is a novel about what it costs to find your voice when the world wants you voiceless. About fathers and sons learning to speak after years of silence. About first love, last chances, and burning down what no longer serves you. About building something new from the ashes.

In River Rock, everyone knows the rules. J-Man's about to break every single one, not with fists, but with the most dangerous weapon of all: a poem that refuses to lie.

Phillip Shabazz works as a poet-in-the-schools of North Carolina. He is the author of four poetry collections, and a novel in verse. His most recent collection is Moonflower (Fernwood Press, 2025). His work has appeared in journals including Florida Review, Queens Quarterly, BREATHE, and Galway Review.