Book Excerpt Against the Grain ~ Bookish Madness

Book Excerpt

“Was he telling the truth?” Matt asked.

Ms. Pierce nods her head and rubs her temples. “He certainly thought he was, but he wasn’t using any tact. He was beating everyone over the head with a sledgehammer of truth. Most people aren’t ready for any real truth.”

“How did Jill and Dave react?”

“Jill was mortified, but she kept quiet. Her husband tried to get a word in, but Derrick called him a fascist and he told Jill how he was hitting on me earlier. Dave turned red, like a teapot ready to blow. He got up, and Dave can be kind of an intense guy, you know? He told Derrick that he’d better leave, before he kicked his ass. Then Derrick called Dave a rapist. He said something about it being immoral to imprison nonviolent offenders, where male rape is commonplace.

“It was crazy—I mean, Derrick saying this stuff to the chief of police. That’s when it got really ugly. I stood up and grabbed Derrick by the arm. I was worried that Dave was gonna hurt him. I think at that point Derrick knew he’d gone too far, and he was ready to leave. So we started to leave the table, and Victoria smacked him really hard across the face.”

“What did Derrick do?”

“He was stunned, but he ignored it and kept walking toward the door.”

“I don’t understand why Victoria would hate you for what Derrick did.”

“It’s not what Derrick did—it’s what I did. Derrick was a gentle person. He was troubled though. He was abused pretty badly as a kid, and he still had bouts of depression from it. It was really awful. Derrick and I were really close. I was the only one who knew what he had been through, and, when Victoria put her hands on him, I didn’t see Derrick—the man who had just insulted all these guests. I saw Derrick—the little kid who was being hit again. I lost it. I punched Victoria in the face. I used to take that Tae Bo stuff, but I had never actually punched a person before. She dropped like a sack of potatoes.”

“Wow, … Ms. Pierce,” Matt says, laughing.

“It’s really nothing to laugh at,” Ms. Pierce says. The corners of her mouth turn up just a little, then she starts to laugh. “It’s still nothing to laugh at.”

About the Book

Title: Against the Grain

Author: Phil Williams

Genre: Contemporary / Coming of Age / Political

A tyrannical high school principal.
A young anarchist with nothing left to lose.
One way or another, this place is goin’ down.

Matt Moyer is an orphaned teen growing up on a primitive farm in the Pennsylvania coal region. He’s homeschooled by his eccentric and philosophical great-uncle, who’s a stickler for logic, reason, and intellectual honesty. Despite his uncle’s reverence for veracity, inconsistencies arise regarding the old man’s shady past and the teen’s parents.

Through a harrowing sequence of events, Matt is forced to attend a public school. The feral teen finds it difficult to cope with the hypocrisy, propaganda, and misinformation that adults and children so readily accept. Faced with the possibility of expulsion, arrest, and ostracism, he must make a choice. Will he choose the easy lie or the hard truth?

Adult language and content.

Author Bio

Phil M. Williams is an author, activist, blogger, and consultant. He lives in Central Pennsylvania with his wife, Denise, where he writes and tends his permaculture farm. He is the author of Fire the Landscaper, Against the Grain, Stone Lake, and co-author of Farmer Phil’s Permaculture. His new releases can be read for free at PhilWBooks.com.