Renowned American astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi (born James Plummer) pens a gripping, gritty coming-of-age memoir, from young boy to graduate-school student, that will resonate with teenagers, especially those of color, who are facing many choices and obstacles as they navigate their young adult lives. He was born James Plummer and grew up in poor neighborhoods where gangs were common. What set him apart were his love of the starlit sky and the mysteries of science and his off-the-charts IQ. Despite the constant upheaval and turbulence of his home life, James devoured books, conducted science experiments, and taught himself computer programming, winning a state science fair with his project modeling Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. His thirst for knowledge would be his guiding star even when destructive habits—a crack cocaine addiction in college and graduate school—nearly derailed his dream of becoming a research physicist. Although at times he self-sabotaged his life and found the struggle nearly unbearable, he persevered and ultimately became a renowned astrophysicist, changing his name to Hakeem Oluseyi to honor his ancestors. This honest, compelling memoir will inspire readers to reach for their own dreams. ★ "This absorbing, suspenseful memoir.... will keep readers riveted ." — Booklist , starred review “ Unflinchingly honest ; a memoir in which young readers can find useful lessons.” — Kirkus Reviews "By celebrating a Black academic in the STEM field, this scientist’s memoir envisions a place for anyone who has a dream that the possibility is there to achieve it." —School Library Journal Hakeem Oluseyi , PhD, is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, inventor, educator, television personality, and public speaker. He is currently a Clarence J. Robinson Professor at George Mason University and president of the National Society of Black Physicists. Previously, he was a Distinguished Professor of Aerospace, Physics & Space Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology from 2007 to 2019 and has held professorships at MIT, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Washington, and the University of Cape Town. Dr. Oluseyi has also served as the Space Science Education Manager of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and chief science officer of Discovery Science. He has appeared in science and engineering programming on Netflix, Discovery Science, Nat Geo, PBS, BBC, and more. Dr. Oluseyi is an inductee of the National Academy of Inventors, the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame, and the Sigma Pi Sigma physics honor society. Joshua Horwitz is the author of multiple nonfiction books, including the New York Times bestseller War of the Whales: A True Story , which won the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. 1 1971: New Orleans East I was four years old when my family busted apart. What I remember most about that last night together was all the fussing and fighting. When the noise woke us up, my older sister, Bridgette, and I lay in our bed and listened. Bridgette, who was ten, held my hand and tried to soothe me back to sleep. But the shouting just got louder. I don’t know who started the ruckus. Mama and Daddy were always getting into it about this or that, but that night was meaner than usual. It sounded like either Mama had been stepping out on him, like Daddy said, or else that was a filthy lie, like Mama said. By the time Bridgette and I stuck our heads out of our bedroom to look, they’d been hissing and hollering for half an hour. Just then, Mama picked up a heavy glass ashtray full of butts and threw it at Daddy’s head. He ducked and the ashtray hit the wall hard. That’s when Daddy punched her. He used to be an amateur boxer, and a pretty good one, according to Aunt Middy. But I’d never seen Daddy take a swing at Mama. That night, he hit her square across the side of the head. She dropped like a sock puppet. As soon as she went down, Daddy kneeled beside her and started crying and apologizing and petting her up, saying sweetheart this and sweetheart that. But Mama always kept score, and she would always rather get even than make up. Daddy begged her to come to bed, but Mama just turned away from him and shook her head no. Bridgette led me to our bedroom and sang me a lazy-voice lullaby to help me get back to sleep. Mama had other ideas. Later that night, when Daddy was sleeping, she fetched a can of lighter fluid from the barbecue and sprayed it on her side of the bed. When she touched her Zippo to the mattress, Daddy thought he’d woke up in hell, which I guess he had. When we heard him shrieking, Bridgette and I scrambled out into the hall again, just in time to see Daddy dragging the burning mattress into the backyard. We rushed out behind him through the thick cloud of black smoke that filled the house. It must have been warm that evening, because all the neighbors came out onto their back