Ishmael is the first-born son of Abraham. Born to Hagar, one of Abraham’s slaves, Ishmael has an uneasy relationship with Sarah, Abraham’s wife. But Ishmael loves his father—he loves to hunt with Abraham, and he loves to pray with Abraham. When Sarah finally gives birth to Isaac, the son that God has promised to her, Ishmael and Hagar are driven out into the desert.
Sam lives with his mother and father in Brooklyn. When Sam’s father falls in love with another woman, he leaves his family to start a new life. (And this new life includes another son.) Sam loved his father—he loved to play basketball with his father, and he loved to sit beside his father at church. But now he can’t help but feel that his father is nothing but a hypocrite.
Nikki Grimes (author of Bronx Masquerade) weaves together the stories of Biblical Ishmael and contemporary Sam in this young adult novel in verse. She beautifully captures the anger, fear, uncertainty, and love of these two characters—separated by centuries but connected by circumstances.
