The Story (PB) (2024)

The fourth title in TCG Books' Illuminations series is a thrilling drama that examines the pressures racism exerts both in the streets and in the newsrooms that cover them.

Rookie journalist Yvonne arrives at her first big-city newspaper job determined to prove herself as a serious investigative reporter, only to be segregated with the other Black reporters at Outlook, a section focusing on human interest pieces designed to highlight positive developments in the Black community. When a white teacher is murdered in the Black neighborhood where he teaches, Yvonne jumps at a tantalizing lead pointing to a local all-girl gang as the culprit. Soon though, her story begins to conflict with the facts on the ground. As rival reporters chase down leads of their own, veteran writer Neil begins to suspect that this is not the first time Yvonne has told a dramatic story instead of the prosaic truth. What follows is a breathless depiction of an urban newsroom in crisis, as Yvonne races to get her stories straight--both the one she's writing, and the one she tells about herself.