The Confession of Copeland Cane by Keenan Norris was another Tournament of Books surprise. The surprise, for me, was that I hadn’t heard more about this book prior to the Tournament. This book follows Copeland Cane, a young fugitive, accused of an unknown-to-us crime, in a near-future post-Covid scenario where media conglomerate Soclear Broadcasting basically runs the government. The book is narrated mostly by Copeland as he tells his own coming-of-age story. Copeland grows up in a housing project in Oakland. He spends some time in juvenile detention before landing a spot at an isolated prep school as a token Black student. All the while he struggles to understand the cruelty of the world around him, and his place in it.

This book felt reminiscent of recent NBA winner Hell of a Book, because they both balance humor and solemnity to grapple with the topic of being a Black male in America in the age of police killings. The book is written in Copeland’s vernacular. I think audio is the way to go with this one - the narration was superb. If this sounds like one you would like, I’d recommend sticking with it. It didn’t grab me from the beginning, but at some point I found myself completely absorbed in Cope’s world and story.