A Question of Freedom by R. Dwayne Betts

IN STORES NOW!!!

Read the Baltimore Times Review of A Question of Freedom.

Read "Saved By A Book" on WashingtonPost.com, written by R. Dwayne Betts.

Check out a PREVIEW of R. Dwayne Betts interview with Tavis Smiley (AIRS TODAY!!! September, 17, 2009).

Check out the R. Dwayne Betts' article on CNN.com.

Reginald Dwayne Betts was born in a city in San Diego he no longer remembers. Dwayne was raised in Suitland, MD, a small city in the DC Metropolitan area. On December 8, 1996 Dwayne went from being an average boy in the neighborhood, carrying hoop dreams and college ambitions in his head, to another young black male behind bars. In thirty seconds he became a statistic and his memoir, A Question of Freedom, is about everything he did while in prison to make his life more than the moments that left him standing before a judge in a Fairfax County Courtroom. A Question of Freedom shows his journey away from the neighborhoods he called home to the prison cells where he spent most of his teenage years and early 20s.

At the age of sixteen, R. Dwayne Betts—a good student from a lower-middle-class family—carjacked a man with a friend. He had never held a gun before, but within a matter of minutes he had committed six felonies. A bright young kid, he served his nine-year sentence as part of the adult population in some of the worst prisons in the state.

A Question of Freedom is a coming-of-age story with the unique twist that it takes place in prison. Utterly alone—and with the growing realization that he really is not going home any time soon—Dwayne confronts profound questions about violence, freedom, crime, race, and the justice system. Above all, A Question of Freedom is about a quest for identity—one that guarantees Dwayne's survival in a hostile environment that incorporates an understanding of how his own past led to the moment of his crime.

More About R. Dwayne Betts...

R Dwayne Betts was raised in Suitland, MD. The only child of a single mother, his earliest years showed the kind of academic promise that leads children to be labeled as gifted. Throughout school, despite often finding himself in trouble for talking too loudly and much too often, he excelled in his schoolwork. Friends, family members and teachers all expected that he’d attend college and become the engineer he told anyone who would listen that he wanted to be...MORE

Publicist's Information and Media Requests:

Publicist: Lindsay Gordon, Lindsay.Gordon@us.penguingroup.com

For media requests, contact Lindsay Gordon. For speaking/events requests, contact Jacqueline Fischetti at Jacqueline.Fischetti@us.penguingroup.com.