Color.

Salim Mourad doesn't see the world in color anymore.

Not since the day everything bright in his life was swallowed by blood and gunfire-when a theme park trip turned into a crime scene and his world went gray forever.

Now sixteen and barely holding it together, Salim spends his days cooped up in his room, dodging pity, and pretending he doesn't remember how it used to feel to laugh. He's angry. At everything. At the world. At the system that let it happen. At himself.

Living with his aging grandmother in a house that smells like old spices and sadness, Salim is forced to re-enter society-re-enrolling at Riverbend High with a schedule he doesn't care about and classmates he wants nothing to do with.

But grief doesn't stay buried, and memories don't fade in black and white. When Salim starts to unravel in ways even he can't control, he'll have to decide whether to keep smothering his pain in silence... or let a little color bleed through the cracks.

A raw, lyrical exploration of loss, rage, healing, and the connections we make when words aren't enough.