West of Rehoboth

New York Times and Essence best-selling author Alexs D. Pate is also a professor of African American studies at the University of Minnesota. Set in the turbulent 1960s, West of Rehoboth is the story of 12-year-old Edward Massey's summertime coming of age in the resort town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Edward and his family have escaped the heat and violence of inner-city Philadelphia every summer for the last 5 years. Staying at his Aunt Edna's house in West Rehoboth—the black side of town—Edward has the whole summer to have fun and explore. First, Edward wants to learn about the mysterious man named Uncle Rufus living in the shack behind Aunt Edna's. As Edward and Rufus form a tenuous friendship, Edward risks losing himself to the same negativity that torments his uncle. Pate's richly imagined West Rehoboth and its inhabitants will surprise and intrigue listeners. The spellbinding voice of narrator Dion Graham brings out every nuance of Pate's striving characters.