With things already tense in the aftermath of an argument with Appa, sixth-grader Jordan isn’t eager to share the news of his school suspension for cheating. But he gets home to news that the Rodney King verdict has triggered public protests and riots in Los Angeles. Concerned that their family-owned liquor store will be targeted by rioters, Appa has gone to board up the shop. When Appa doesn’t call home as promised, Jordan, Korean American, decides to sneak out of the house in order to deliver his father’s gun to Appa for protection. After wrangling a ride from his friend Mike’s older brother, Jordan’s journey is quickly derailed and soon he and Mike are wandering the city alone. Jordan encounters unexpected obstacles and unexpected help as he in his quest to reach the family’s store. An honest conversation with Appa when Jordan finally makes it there not only reveals that Appa intentionally left the gun at home, but that he moved the family to the United States so that his kids could have more opportunities and now, considering the racism around them, he wonders whether he made the right choice. The author notes he was inspired to write this novel by trying to talk to his children about the murder of George Floyd, by the anti-Asian violence of 2020, and in remembering how the Rodney King police beating and the murder of Latasha Harlins impacted his own life as an 18-year-old in 1991. (Ages 10-13)