{"product_id":"the-real-education-of-tj-crowley-coming-of-age-on-the-redline-9781732304734","title":"The Real Education of TJ Crowley: Coming of Age on the Redline","description":"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOverstake, Grant:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Grant Overstake is a Kansas-born author, journalist, and creative producer whose work explores personal growth, social justice, and the emotional resilience of teens coming of age in the American heartland. A former Miami Herald journalist and USATF All-American track and field athlete, he infuses his writing with grit, integrity, and personal experience.Raised in Wichita, Kansas, during the Civil Rights era, he came of age on the stark dividing line of that redlined, segregated city. His novel, The Real Education of TJ Crowley, draws deeply from that turbulent period and his own formative experiences: a father's absence, a mother's long-term illness, schoolyard fights, academic struggles, and the forging of friendships with classmates and teammates who looked different.Grant began his writing career at the age of eighteen as a part-time reporter for The Wichita Eagle. He later earned a scholarship to the University of Kansas School of Journalism, where a sports feature he wrote for The Daily Kansan won a William Randolph Hearst Award, often called the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism. After graduating, he joined The Miami Herald, a newsroom known for producing bestselling authors.Grant's novel, grounded in his personal history, is inspired by a several-decade-long question that lingered in his mind. When a Black family moved in next door, his own family chose white flight. Quickly shunning their new neighbors, they fled before even knowing their names. As an adult, that moment in time became a personal reckoning.Over the course of a decade, Grant revisited his memories of that period and began intensive research of the era before and after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. He drew insight from community stories, a new friendship with the Brown family, and his years singing with the ARISE Ensemble. Through fiction, he asked the haunting question: what if his family had stayed in their home? Drawing from his personal journey, he infused the story with themes of harmony, healing, and hope for a brighter future.Grant's debut novel, Maggie Vaults Over the Moon, is a beloved coming-of-age sports story celebrating Title IX, perseverance, and girl empowerment. Championed by Olympic athletes, it was named by CITIUS Mag as one of the best track and field novels of all time. USA Today columnist and bestselling author Christine Brennan called Maggie \"a warm, uplifting story for girls and the families who support them.\"Beyond his writing, Grant is a dedicated teaching artist who has led creative workshops and school assemblies for thousands of students, from elementary classrooms to graduate seminars. A lifelong athlete, he continues to excel and compete in masters track and field alongside his wife, Claire. Together, they were honored with the global \"Couples Spirit Award\" at the 2020 Virtual Worldwide Masters Athletic Challenge Championships.Learn more at GrantOverstake.com\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWuthrich, May:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - May Wuthrich is a multi-award-winning audiobook producer, director, and performance coach whose career spans book publishing, film script development, and theater, giving her a multidimensional perspective on storytelling. Her expertise in book-to-script adaptation and guiding projects from page to performance has shaped hundreds of productions.From the Detroit suburbs, May began her creative life as a stage actor in New York City. After co-founding a small theater company, she discovered a passion for producing, leading to positions at CBS Theatrical Films, MGM-UA, Bantam Books, and HarperCollins. She later served as Vice President of Development for Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions, and for the writer, producer, and director Alan J. Pakula.For over 15 years, May has worked on non-fiction titles by Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and MacArthur Fellowship recipients: The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine; Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy; Matthew Desmond's Evicted; Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming; Natasha Trethewey's Memorial Drive; and with author Philip Goodrich on the award-winning adaptation of Somersett: Benjamin Franklin and the Masterminding of American Independence. These works and others underscore her commitment to truth-telling and illuminating social justice issues through impactful storytelling.Her fiction titles include works by celebrated authors such as Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Gilbert, Adriana Trigiani, Jodi Picoult, Oscar Hijuelos, Richard Peck, and Kate DiCamillo, as well as countless other extraordinary storytellers.May also has been honored to work with many public figures, including Gloria Steinem, Senator Mazie Hirono, Robert Iger, Geoffrey Berman, Sunny Hostin, Mira Sorvino, Kate Mulgrew, Joe Morton, and Amber Tamblyn.She has taught screenwriting at NYU's School of Professional Studies and served as a guest lecturer at Columbia University's School of General Studies. She has also inspired students through The Great Books Summer Program, curating conversations with distinguished authors and filmmakers at Amherst, Stanford, and Oxford.Each chapter of her career has shaped the creative force she is today-someone dedicated to fostering creativity and collaboration, bringing transformative stories to the world.Learn more at MayWuthrich.com","brand":"Grain Valley Publishing Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51985506271506,"sku":"9781732304734","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b853d969-5d55-40ea-93ca-37a9830cb242.jpg?v=1769538483","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-real-education-of-tj-crowley-coming-of-age-on-the-redline-9781732304734","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}