Dark Side of Valor

Singleton’s melodramatic debut sketches the past of child advocate Lelia Freeman, from her life with an alcoholic, promiscuous mother until she runs away at age 16 to a life on the streets of Los Angeles, where she fights off attempts to pimp her. The efforts of 102-year-old Ma Ella and others associated with Ella’s church change Lelia’s life. A quick rise to prominence as a rescuer of runaways leads to an unwelcome spotlight and appointment to a Washington task force on orphans caused by war in the east African nation of Sudania. Lelia becomes the virtual prisoner of Sudania president Mawein Boll Deng after falling into his clutches. Thriller clichés abound, including a helicopter crash, an African native trying to claim Lelia in marriage, and a last-minute reprieve from a villain’s dying grasp. Agent: Sara Camilli. (Feb.)