Genie has never even met his grandfather, who, he quickly learns, is blind and, according to the man himself, crazy! With no internet access and no cell phone reception, the ever-curious Genie quickly attaches himself to Grandpop to try to understand his many unique and exotic qualities and practices. So, when they’re forced to spend a month with Grandma and Grandpop in rural Virginia, they are entering an unknown world. They are Brooklyn boys, through and through. The Harris brothers have hardly ever stepped foot outside the New York metropolitan area.

It turns out that the keys to healing, for three generations of Harris men, are communication and forgiveness. In As Brave As You, the author, Jason Reynolds, shows how harboring resentments and not taking responsibility for one’s mistakes can tear a family apart. When Genie and Ernie arrive in North Hill, Virginia, their dad’s childhood home, they realize that their parents’ isn’t the only relationship in crisis Ernie, Sr., barely speaks to his own father and the silence is clearly concealing some deep family injuries. Their parents, to try to mend their strained marriage, send them to live with their grandparents out in the country for a month in the summer while they go on their first vacation since the boys were born. Agent: Elena Giovanazzo, Pippin Properties.Genie Harris and his older brother Ernie are city boys whose family life is on the rocks. Genie's efforts to fix his mistakes (including accidentally killing one of his grandfather's beloved birds), his realization that the Web doesn't have all the answers, and Grandpop's struggle with guilt and forgiveness after he pushes Ernie to participate in a dangerous family tradition create a multifaceted story that skillfully blends light and dark elements while showing children and adults interacting believably and imperfectly. Eleven-year-old Genie is most concerned about the lack of Internet access: how will he look up answers to the questions that constantly come to him? Ernie, nearly 14, is happy enough when he meets Tess, a neighbor who gives them the lowdown on North Hill, but neither brother has any idea that their stay will involve picking peas in the hot sun and, for Genie, keeping secrets%E2%80%94both his and those of his blind grandfather. Reynolds (All American Boys) aims for a younger audience with the story of Genie and Ernie, two Brooklyn boys spending a month with their grandparents in North Hill, Va., while their parents try to mend a frayed marriage.

As brave as you by jason reynolds