Kiss It Up to God

Kiss It Up to God is a historical family saga that weaves the reader through time, race, class, murder, triumph, love, music, and community. Through alternating slices of a family’s turbulent past in the South, as well as their current challenges in the inner-city North, the story introduces the reader to the generations of the Cunningham family.Teetering at the end of the Jim Crow-era, it’s a time of good Motown and R&B music, and a time when family ties are still important, no matter the distances that lie in between. As the summer cranks up its heat upon the BeaconView housing projects community, it is also a time when a family of three are unaware of the paths that await each of them during this season of cookouts, balmy night breezes, ice cold beer, amusement parks, and the annual factory shutdown.It’s also a coming-of-age story of the family’s daughter, “Izzy” Cunningham, who masterminds an escapade that will transform her and her friends into “famous” junior debutantes. Life around her seems to unravel, leaving Izzy and her family reliant—sometimes unknowingly—on colorful characters, both living and dead. Read more