We Are Family

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying and gender discrimination.

Jayden Carr is 12, and he lives in Lorain, Ohio. Jayden’s town isn’t flourishing economically, as many of the factories that provide jobs have shut down. Jayden’s mother worked in the Greymond factory. Once it closed, Jayden and his mother moved in with his maternal grandmother, Grams. Jayden’s father, Jevon, is absent. Jayden’s mother found out that she was pregnant before Jevon left for a tour of duty. Not wanting to worry him, she didn’t tell him. When he returned, Jayden was three, and Jevon was irate and vanished. Jayden’s mother wanted to be a lawyer, but she paused her career to raise Jayden. Now, she works for a flashy lawyer.

Today is Jayden’s first day of seventh grade at Carter Middle School. He dreams of playing college basketball and in the NBA. Jayden is awake before five o’clock, but he promises Grams to stay in bed until sunrise. Hearing Grams make coffee prompts him to rise. As long as Jayden completes his homework, Grams lets him practice basketball each morning at “the Blocks”—the basketball court in his neighborhood. At night, the court is unsafe, but during the day, the Blocks are safe and filled with dedicated basketball players.