
Wear your gear. Bring your blades. Back your family. Fight for your life. MLK High School has collapsed into Kung Fu High School—where Jen B. and her brother, Cue, belong to one of two gangs still standing against the puppet principal and the drug kingpin who pulls his strings. Cousin Jimmy—a world-champion martial arts master of mythic stature—arrives in town after swearing to his mother that he'll never fight again. His rep precedes him and everyone's itching to see him "kicked in"—Kung Fu's brutal initiation ritual. But he won't break his vow and defend himself, so Cue steps in when things go too far. Soon, a surprise counterstrike sends Kung Fu spinning toward one final, raging battle. Teachers flee, students break out full weaponry, and Jimmy must make a decision that will brand him a coward—or a hero.
Author

Ryan Gattis is the author of Safe, Kung Fu High School, The System (July 2020), The Big Drop novellas (Homecoming & Impermanence) and All Involved, which won the Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Lire Award for Noir of the Year in France. He lives and writes in South Los Angeles, where he is a member of art collective UGLARworks, a founding board member of arts non-profit Heritage Future, and a PEN America Prison Writing Mentor. For UK readers, Advanced Reading Copies of The System are now available. Please visit Netgalley UK to request one. For news, updates, & more, sign up for Ryan's monthly newsletter. ⬇️ If you have any questions for Ryan, please ask below! ⬇️