Eighth Grade Book Club with Desmond Hall

Again in May 2024 we brought together our eighth-grade students from all three K-8 Brooke schools, along with our community adult volunteers, for an evening book club event. They discussed the book over dinner and participated in a panel discussion with the author. 

This spring, we had the privilege of inviting Desmond Hall, author of the young adult novel Your Corner Dark, which follows the journey of a young teen from Jamaica who faces the realities of his familial background and the potential future he was born into, alongside the aspirations he hopes for in creating his own path. Desmond Hall also has another forthcoming title, Better Must Come, which is available for pre-order now.

Below is a snapshot of the panel discussion between our student panelists – Esohe, Mariah, Rebbira, and Kaiden – and Desmond Hall. Warning! This discussion includes spoilers from the book.

Student Panelist Esohe: Why did you decide to kill the dad off? 

Desmond Hall: Well, I – That’s a nice start, isn’t it? There had to be a consequence to what happened. If Samson had lived, the earlier events wouldn’t have been emphasized as much. Up until the Dad dies, it is a coming of age story, with Frankie trying to do the right thing and save his dad, but doing it in the wrong way. When his dad dies, it becomes the climax of the story; it shifts to an institutionalized story about whether Frankie will join, destroy, or sacrifice himself for the posse. This is why, sadly, Samson had to go.

Student Panelist Mariah: Why did you write the book in third person instead of first person? 

Desmond: [Writing in] close third person gives me more options, and I am much more comfortable writing in it because that’s how I was taught. I went to a writing school downtown called GrubStreet, and the teacher there really helped me learn close third person. Close third is like first person, but you get to talk and describe things with a little more distance, as if there is a narrator, even though it’s still Frankie, right? That’s why I chose it.

Student Panelist Rebbira: Why didn’t you give Frankie a second chance for his scholarship? 

Desmond: So, if we give Frankie another shot at that scholarship, right? Do you feel as much for him? 

It was an important plot turn to make, to give more grief to Frankie. My favorite writing teacher, Robert McKee, always says the main problem with writers is that we won’t be cruel to our heroes. We are not mean enough to our protagonists, because if you’re not mean to your protagonist as a writer, what are you giving them? Everything. If you’re mean, you give them an obstacle, and if a story doesn’t have obstacles, well, Frankie gets Lea. Frankie gets the scholarship, Frankie gets to build things in Jamaica. Is that like, as interesting, you know? No, right? You have to overcome something. And when you overcome something, that’s when you change, right? Characters don’t change if you don’t give them obstacles. So I was, you know, I was mean to him. 

Student Panelist Esohe: Why did you decide to kill the dad off? 

Desmond Hall: Well, I – That’s a nice start, isn’t it? There had to be a consequence to what happened. If Samson had lived, the earlier events wouldn’t have been emphasized as much. Up until the Dad dies, it is a coming of age story, with Frankie trying to do the right thing and save his dad, but doing it in the wrong way. When his dad dies, it becomes the climax of the story; it shifts to an institutionalized story about whether Frankie will join, destroy, or sacrifice himself for the posse. This is why, sadly, Samson had to go.

Student Panelist Kaiden: What would Frankie’s experience have been if he had gone to college? 

Desmond: Has anybody here had a parent that left their homeland to come to America? Was that tough for them? 

Brooke High School Student, Kameron: My mom’s from Jamaica and my dad is from Cape Verde. It was difficult for her to come to a country not knowing anybody and being on her own, creating a living for herself and for her eight kids.

Brooke Mattapan Student, Sabrina: My mom and dad came to America in their mid-20s and had to adapt quickly to fit in. They focused on our education, believing our success was their success. They built our pathways through their hardships, so every time I achieve something, it feels like they do too. I respect my parents for how quickly they adapted and how much they cared for us.

Desmond: I can go on, but I think that was eloquently said. Frankie would have a lot of issues adapting in this new society, you know? Well, that may show up in a book one day.  

Thank you to our students, community volunteers, and Desmond Hall for creating yet another memorable book club!