My 3rd and most popular book—On the Shoulders of Giants—is being featured in BookFunnel’s ‘Noir Novels’ book promo for “stories that don’t flinch.” Follow the link below to learn more about Giants. Paperback and free ebook links are also provided on the promo page… At the risk of sounding arrogant, this 138,000-word story is timeless, urgent, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I still get excited when handing it to someone to read for the first time.

✨As always, reviews and feedback are highly appreciated! Wishing you momentum. —IV

The last time Izzy saw his mother’s trailer was through the rear window of a Dodge Aries driven by a social worker with the Florida Division of Children and Families. He was four years old. He spent the remainder of his childhood bouncing around the state foster care system. Always the outsider, introverted and awkward, he assumed he was exempt from things like friendship and love… until he met Scarlett McGhee.

Pharaoh Sinclair was born in a women’s correctional facility. The illegitimate child of an unknown father and a crackhead mother. He grew up on the sidewalks of the Azalea Arms housing project, where gunshots and police sirens were as commonplace as the stench of the neighboring landfill. Molded by hustlers and pushers, with the dope game in his DNA, the lone soft spot in his concrete heart was reserved for his baby sister, Symphony. But could he protect her from the same streets that raised them?

From the sugar-white sand dunes of Pensacola Beach to the murderous Arthur G. Dozier reform school, from strip clubs to emergency rooms, from trap houses to courthouses to prison cells, On the Shoulders of Giants chronicles the intersecting journeys of a foster kid and a project kid as they battle and stumble their way through adolescence into adulthood.

An exploration of race, part memoir, part coming-of-age, part thriller, part love story, this transcendent novel defies genre. A book within a book. More than a story, a living organism. A legacy. The only child of Ezra “Izzy” James.

AWARDS:

✨1ST PLACE WINNER of the 28th annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards, Mainstream/Literary Fiction category (2020) • Shortlisted for the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards

REVIEWS:

✨Judge’s review, 2017 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards:

“The setting descriptions are poetic, devastating, and really well done… The ending is hugely moving and the epilogue is a welcome surprise. This is an enormously well done book. With a keen eye for detail, for social commentary, and a principled stand on various issues, Ivey has presented a dramatic story that brings today’s headlines home.”

✨Judge’s review, 2020 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards:

“On the Shoulders of Giants contains two distinct, equally-heartrending stories… The writing is exceptional, with two well-defined voices written in first and third person. Foster homes and crack dens, strip clubs and emergency rooms, reform schools and prison cells: the setting for Izzy’s and Pharaoh’s stories are gritty, harrowing and raw. The author balances such darkness with likable, engaging characters and insightful prose to create a satisfying, thought-provoking read.”

✨Reviews on Amazon:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Captivating Read! A wonderful mix of suspense, humor, and drama. —G.W.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A PAGE TURNER! What an amazing novel! The book had me hooked from the very first page. —S.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amazing story that you can’t stop reading! Such a great story that was so well written. This book is impossible to put down. Can’t wait to read the next one! —M.M.