Imagine the mid 1980’s, last day of school, summer break. A teen rushes to meet his mother, who is being released from the hospital after cancer surgery. When the teen arrives, he finds out his mother is dead, but his ex-gangbanging dad, who has been in jail the last seven years, is at the hospital ready to take the teen home.
Mendel, is a coming-of-age story about a senior at Chicago’s legendary Mendel High who must learn how to forgive as he navigates life without his mother. Things come to a head when the teen accidentally finds his mom’s diary. In the journal, he discovers his mother’s dreams of becoming a collegiate track star were derailed due to getting pregnant with him. To honor his mother, he joins Mendel’s track team and excels, but before he can cash in on any scholarship offers, his father’s thuggish past catches up with them when a gun toting nemesis comes seeking revenge. The teen must decide between saving his own life or sacrificing it all to save his estranged father.
Book Information
Release Date: April 26, 2022
Publisher: The Story Plant
Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1611883268; 288 pages; $16.95; E-Book, $7.99
Amazon: https://amzn.to/37qfkCC
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3NYZ0cS
Indigo: https://bit.ly/37qF69y
Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781611883268
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Mendel-Damone-Bester/9781611883268
Damone Bester was born and raised on Chicago’s Southside to blue-collar parents who were married 49 years, and one older brother, whose backyard scuffles taught Damone one lesson: “Never quit.” He wasn’t just a student at Mendel; he lived and breathed “Blue Smoke,” the mantra of his track team brethren. A brief conversation with another Mendel alum stoked the fire to pen his first novel about the school he so loved.
Damone is an author, poet, aspiring screenwriter, and voiceover artist. He has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Illinois State University and has spent most of his profession in the Social Services sector. He currently lives in the Twin Cities area and enjoys fishing, bowling, basketball (watching, not playing), bean bags, and bragging about his nephew and nieces.
If you want more about Damone Bester, don’t forget to check out his website, LinkedIn and Facebook pages!
Welcome, Damone! Your book, Mendel, sounds absolutely awesome. Can you tell us the story behind that intriguing title?
Thank you. I certainly hope people think it is exciting. Mendel was the name of the high school I attended as a teen. Mendel was and is a historic tradition. It was an all-boys, private institution situated on the Southside of Chicago. The actual building still remains and was renamed Gwendolyn Brooks College Prepatory Academy after the United States Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, who was also resident of Chicago's Southside.
Can you tell us a little about your main characters?
The main character Brandon James Jr. (BJ) is a high-school senior struggling to deal with his mother’s unexpected death. He is lost in a lot of ways and just wants the hurting to stop. He’s a good kid who desires to do well, protect his baby sister and make his mother proud.
Brandon James Sr. (Keko) and Coach Alexander Abrams are the yin and yang of positivity in BJ’s life. They both want the best for BJ but their influence or modus operandi come from opposite sides of the tracks. Keko is the definition of gruff, hard-core, ex-convict, ex-gang banger from the streets. Coach Abrams is educated, calm, measured, and creatively manipulative in pulling the best out of BJ.
Antwan Benson (Squirt) is the charismatic, brash, and sneaky friend who always gets BJ into trouble. BJ has a soft spot for Squirt because he is 5’2”, talks with a lisp and is constantly the victim of bullying due to his big mouth.
Where is your book set and why did you choose that particular location?
Mendel’s setting is the Southside of Chicago during the mid-1980’s. Though the story is fictional, the location isn’t. Mendel was founded in 1951 and closed its doors in 1988 while I was still a student there. Mendel has had an active Alumni Association since its closure. I recently attended Mendel’s first “All Class Reunion” a couple of weeks ago on April 8th – April 9th. There were 375 of us in attendance! Consider that with me for a moment. Mendel Catholic College Prep has been closed Thirty-Four years and Three Hundred and Seventy-Five of us came back to the South Side of Chicago to feel that brotherhood once again. This alone should speak volumes. Mendel is smack dab in the middle of violent, drug infested streets of Chicago’s Southside. With this as the backdrop, how much more, will a story about forgiveness, redemption, manhood, family & teamwork impact those who dare to read it.
They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point when the reader just can't put the book down. Can you give us one of the pivotal points in your book?
One of the most pivotal catalysts for BJ’s life is when he stumbles across a bag filled with his deceased mother’s diaries. BJ immediately dumps them onto the floor and organizes them chronologically. He is overly excited to read them. BJ surmises that reading about her hopes and dreams would stoke enough fond memories to bring peace to his grieving heart. It doesn’t. Instead BJ is blindsided with his mother’s confession of blaming her pregnancy with him for not achieving her goal of collegiate track stardom. Will BJ just lay down and die too, or will he finish what his mother couldn’t? It’s usually at this point where Readers cannot put the book down until they know BJ will do. Then of course, when the Reader discovers this answer, I’ll have another twist, then another pivotal point and another unanswered question that keeps going until the Reader finishes the book. And, hopefully, they want to read it again.
What's next for you?
What’s next for me? Well, the excitement continues. I was fortunate enough and blessed to have Mendel contracted as a series. The first seven chapters of the sequel have already been written and approved by my publisher, The Story Plant. So, I’ll be hard at work on completing this next segment of Mendel’s story.
If you want to find out more Mendel, check it out at Amazon!
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