Kiss the Sky

From nationally acclaimed political commentator and multimedia personality Farai Chideya comes an intense and darkly funny debut novel about a woman who learns what you stand to gain--and lose--if you follow your dreams.Sophie Maria Clare Lee is no stranger to reinvention. A book-smart black girl from blue-collar Baltimore, she remade herself into a Harvard hipster, and finally into an indie rock musician touring America with her mesmerizing classmate (and now ex-husband) Ari Klein.

Now, ten years after graduation, a one-night musical reunion with Ari spurs Sophie to snatch back the mic. She lands a record deal--with the help of new manager and paramour Leo Masters--but quickly discovers that her celebrity status brings new risks for her sense of self and even her safety. As she and Ari play music together again, a complicated love triangle begins. With a Greek chorus of advice from her two best girlfriends, Sophie tries to figure out how she relates to these two men, the music business, her loving but demanding extended family, and her penchant for alcohol and melancholy. As the band tours the world, will Sophie's faith, family, and friendships crumble under the weight of her dogged fight for fame?

Debut novel about a black Harvard grad and TV personality who fulfills her dream to be a rock star, if not her dream to be happily in love and thin.

Farai Chideya, author of Don't Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African Americans (Plume Penguin 1995), now in it's eigth printing, The Color of Our Future (William Morrow, 1999), named one of the best books for teens by the New York Public Library, and Trust: REaching the 100 Million Missing Voters (Soft Skull, 2004) has worked in print for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time, Spin, Vibe, O, Mademoiselle, Essence, and more. Prior to joining NPR's News & Notes, she hosted Your Call, a daily news and cultural call-in show on San Franciso's KALW 91.7. She has bee a correspondent for ABC News, anchored the prime time program Pure Oxygen on teh Oxygen women's channel, and contributed commentaries to CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and BET.

She was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated with a B.A. from Harvard University magna cum laude in 1990.