Do You Even Know Me

In 9 stories and 15 poems, Sharon G. Flake provides insight into the minds of a diverse group adolescent African American males. here's Tow-Kaye, getting married at age 16 to love of his life, who's pregnant. He knows it's the right thing to do, but he's scared to death. James writes in his diary about his twin brother's terrible secret, which threatens to pull James down, too. Tyler explains what it's like to be a player with the ladies. In a letter to his uncle, La'Ron confesses that he's infected with HIV. Eric takes us on a tour of North Philly on the Fourth of July, when the heat could make a guy go crazy. Still, he loves his hood. These and other unforgettable characters come to life in this collection of urban male voices. Sharon's G. Flake's talent for telling it like it is will leave readers thinking differently, feeling deeply, and definitely wanting more.

“Like the YouTube channel, this is a touching yet informative guide for those seeking fatherly advice, or even a few good dad jokes.” — Library Journal

This heartwarming picture book reassures children that a parent’s love never lets go—based on the poignant lyrics of JJ Heller’s beloved lullaby “Hand to Hold.” “May the living light inside you be the compass as you go / May you always know you have my hand to hold.” With delightful illustrations and an engaging rhyme scheme, this book offers the promise of security and love every child’s heart longs to know. From skipping stones and counting stars to climbing trees and telling stories, every moment is wrapped snugly in the certain warmth of a parent’s presence and God’s blessing. With poignancy and joy, this bedtime read captures the unconditional love parents want their children to know but so often fail to express amid the chaos of daily life.

“Don’t You Know Who I Am?” has become the mantra of the famous and infamous, the entitled and the insecure. It’s the tagline of the modern narcissist. Health and wellness campaigns preach avoidance of unhealthy foods, sedentary lifestyles, tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, but rarely preach avoidance of unhealthy, difficult or toxic people. Yet the health benefits of removing toxic people from your life may have far greater benefits to both physical and psychological health. We need to learn to be better gatekeepers for our minds, bodies, and souls. Narcissism, entitlement, and incivility have become the new world order, and we are all in trouble. They are not only normalized but also increasingly incentivized. They are manifestations of pathological insecurity—insecurities that are experienced at both the individual and societal level. The paradox is that we value these patterns. We venerate them through social media, mainstream media, and consumerism, and they are endemic in political, corporate, academic, and media leaders. There are few lives untouched by narcissists. These relationships infect those who are in them with self-doubt, despair, confusion, anxiety, depression, and the chronic feeling of being “not enough,” all of which make it so difficult to step away and set boundaries. The illusion of hope and the fantasy of redemption can result in years of second chances, and despondency when change never comes. It’s time for a wake-up call. It’s time to stem the tide of narcissism, entitlement, and antagonism, and take our lives back.

My life began as most lives do, but somewhere along the line it was realized that there were things about my life that were not “normal.” I further began to realize that I had no real foundation, no actual link to the people around me, so I began searching myself, and the result of this search is what landed on paper. My only way of dealing with the lies, chaos, and abuse that filled my young existence, was to put my thoughts and feelings down on paper, knowing that if I told people what was going inside, they would not believe me. This is what happened in my head, in my life, in my world, from ages 15 to 29. This is the result of growing up surrounded by ignorance, loathing, and hatred, when all I ever wanted was love and understanding…

This book contains inspirational prose and poetry meant to encourage and uplift. I write from the heart with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We have had a creative partnership for many years. I write for the lost or broken souls to show them they are not alone. We are all on a journey and should encourage each other daily.

This book is filled with many types of poems that I have written about different events, emotions and much that helped to influence, shape and inspire with only the help from God Himself. My goal is to share these words of inspiration with others in hope to reach people who may have been through struggle with their faith or have had a hard break up or even a simple dream of ones true love. Many things in life happen everyday in our lives and most of time we just seem to ignore them or pass them without a second thought. I believe everyone should take the time to relax and take a breath of new life.