As protests flare across Washington, DC, veteran teacher Jerry Brown is running out of faith—in his classroom, his marriage, and himself. When a viral video surfaces showing police brutality against his former student, Malik Drummond, their uneasy reunion sparks an impulsive road trip through Appalachia. From the streets of Southeast DC to the civil rights landmarks of Harpers Ferry and the forests of the Appalachian Trail, their uneasy journey becomes a reckoning, each mile revealing new fault lines between past and present, teacher and student, guilt and grace in a provocative story about redemption within a divided nation.

As a middle and high school teacher, Eric Goldstein founded the Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization, One World Education. Through programs that teach writing skills through social justice, the organization has transformed more than 65,000 students into writers with voice, knowledge, and purpose. Inspired by two decades of listening to students tell their stories, Eric’s debut novel, TAUGHT, will be released in January 2026.

Dr. Michaele C. Samuel is a psychotherapist, educator, and author whose work bridges mindfulness, mental health, and education. She is the author of The Art of You: Cultivating Confidence and Self-Esteem for Girls and Harmony Within: A Guided Journey Through Empowering Affirmations, both designed to nurture emotional wellness, confidence, and self-awareness through reflection and mindfulness.