Tell us more about who you are and what you do?

My name is Sharon G. Flake.  My career  as a children and young adult author took off like a rocket  after my debut novel The Skin I’m In came out.  Last year, an influencer posted the book cover and in thirty hours it garnered over 600,000 views and thousands of comments.  It has since risen to over 700,000 views.  That’s  quite a feat for a 27-year-old novel, I’d say.  But The Skin I’m In isn’t just any book.  Generations of readers say it helped them find their voice and changed how they saw themselves.  The Family I’m In is the third in the I’m In Trilogy, following The Skin I’m In and The Life I’m In (2023)

What was your inspiration behind your new book: The Family I’m In?

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of speaking with thousands of young men across the country.   During visits to schools, African American boys would show up in ways that made me proud–volunteering to escort me through school buildings—taking center stage in packed auditoriums  to ask thoughtful questions or make poignant statements about the  intersection between them, characters in my books, and reading in general.  Their willingness to be vulnerable, honest and courageous in  sharing  their own stories  was impressive.

I wrote this book in honor of them and other Black boys.  I want them to know that we  see them and believe in them and their right to live rich,  full, complex lives in reality and between the pages of  books.   As storytellers, it’s our job to remind the world of who they are and what they are capable of.  To tell page-turning, heartfelt realistic stories where Black boys stand front and center, unapologetic.

Describe the importance of the father and son relationship from your POV?

This book looks at the pressure and  expectations boys  face in our society.  Sixteen-year-old  John-John tells the story.  Sparks fly as he stands up to his father time and time again, asserting his right to be his own person.  His dad, Big John, is a man’s man; a community hero.  Every man longs to be his friend, and every boy wants to be his son.  John-John knows that his father loves him.  But it’s his friend Caleb’s dad that he turns to in order to be heard and understood; accepted for being himself.   Caleb  goes to John-John’s father when he can’t get all he needs met by his ill father.   Big John becomes Caleb’s go to for employment, finances and over-all support.   As the summer heats up, both young men grapple with their relationships with their dads, a world where expectations for boys seem to shift daily, and what it means to be boys on the verge of manhood. 

What are the top three takeaways you want people to get from the book?

1) Black fathers love their sons. 

2) Boys will have thoughtful, honest  conversations about themselves and the challenges and triumphs of boyhood, if they  do not feel judged, put down, threatened  or stereotyped.  

3)  True friends care and fight for you like family.

What advice do you have for men who are raising sons?

In my early twenties, I was a counselor for young people in foster care.  My job was to give advice to grown folk decades older than I was.  I must admit, I did a great job.  Some of those foster parents were men, raising boys alone.  Here are a few things that I passed  to them in one way or the other.  Boys want someone to look up to, especially the men in their lives.  Young men are eager to be heard and to offer  something to the world  be it their intellect, artistry, their hearts or humor. Because the world can typecast them, boys might shy away from being their full selves, and turn into replicas  of those around them. Men play a vital role in helping young boys and teens become their true authentic selves.

What advice do you have for men growing up without fathers?

In The Skin I’m In, Maleeka the lead character,  struggles with loving her dark skin.  Her father is deceased yet he still manages to work magic in her life.  At just the right time, Maleeka discovers her dad’s poetry.  Much of it celebrates her beautiful dark skin.  She also  finds a mirror he left behind,  that reflects the truth of who she is, rather than the taunts bully’s toss her way daily during school.  My advice  to your readers as they work through loss or examine their lives, is to look for what still remains.

In what ways are “The Skin I’m in” and “The Family I’m in” similar?   

Readers will run into some of the same memorable characters, Maleeka, Char, John-John and Miss Saunders.  Both  books are quick reads,  filled with the just  right the amount of tension, suspense, relatable characters and a respect for young readers, the Black community as well as my characters.  Both books answer some long-held questions about my characters.  I can’t wait for young men and the men in their lives to read both books.

What’s your relationship with your father and how did that impact you?

My dad is 98 years old.  He and my mother were married 65 years, until she died some time ago.  He is rather frail now, but to me and my siblings he is still the smartest man we know, tall with perfect posture.  My father  only had an 8th grade education.  In college, I  would  rush home to sit near him and listen to his take on the nation and the world, while sipping from his wisdom.  He was born in the twenties.  To that generation, love was rather practical.  He went to work for thirty-six years and was only late once–that was how he showed me and my five siblings that he loved us.   Making sure the bills were paid and food was on the table, was another way.  Love to him meant sitting at the table and eating  with us as a family nightly.  His generation didn’t do much hugging and kissing or show many outward expressions of love.  I went to therapy to work through that sort of thing.  But, my father is still my hero, you come for him and you come for me.  Over the years the hugs did come, and so did “I love you,” as age allowed him to be more open and vulnerable.  When I write, I draw on  my dad,  his presence, his love,  imperfections,  brilliant mind for details, and his growth.  I wouldn’t choose another dad.

How many people purchase your book and what’s next for you?  

 I do not keep track of such numbers, until about a year out.  But readers have purchased more than 1.5 million copies of  my novels since I was first published.  In January, I have a book in verse due out called, Hattie Mae Begins Again.  That is a follow-up to Once In a Blue Moon, a novel about a young boy facing his fears who has a father who supports him every step of the way.

How can people follow you and connect with you?

Website:  sharongflake.com

Instagram: @flakesharon

Facebook:  sharonflake

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