Slate-A Band of Friends Mystery Book I is a new edition of the ROYAL PALM LITERARY AWARD 2023 winner for Best Young Adult/New Adult novel (Florida Writers Association)

SLATE is a junior at a Manhattan private school. Due to an accident of birth, he has the American citizenship his Russian rock-star parents crave. When their work visas expired, Slate stayed on in their luxury New York apartment with a guardian next door. He can sponsor them for green cards when he turns twenty-one. Meanwhile, they visit whenever they can get tourist visas. Their irresponsible drug and alcohol-infused rocker lifestyle could break him, but Slate is smart, sensible, and determined to be the adult in the family. The start of the fall semester adds more fractures to Slate's life. His best friend Dash isn't in his classes, and he's assigned to a "nightmare" semester project group. More serious problems connected to the celebrity and wealth of his parents follow-extortion, stalking, ominous texts, and a deadly attack. Slate copes with courage, brains, music, and friends.