Reviewed by Karin Perry for TeensReadToo.com
Walter Dean Myers has created a captivating tale of new love on the tough streets of New York City. Damien is a smart young man who is going places. He has already been accepted into Brown University and looks toward the future. His parents have sacrificed in order to provide him with a stable, loving, and supportive environment. His mother is diligent when it comes to his life. She doesn't want to him to fall prey to manipulating girls looking for a way out of their meaningless and disappointing lives.
Junice is a tall, beautiful girl with a lot on her plate. Her mother has just been sent to prison for twenty-five years for drug possession and now lives with her forgetful grandmother and younger sister. The responsibility of keeping everyone together falls on Junice. The Department of Human Services has reviewed their situation and found that the grandmother isn't well enough to care for the girls and plans to send them into the system--saying they'll try to keep Junice and her sister, Melissa, together, but that they can't promise anything.
When Damien sees Junice walking down the street one day he becomes entranced. Feelings swell in his chest and he knows he has changed. He is quickly pulled into the chaos that is Junice's life and wants to do whatever he can to help her. Against the wishes of his parents, he continues a relationship with her that takes him down a road -- quite literally -- that he would never have taken if Junice hadn't come into his life.
Walter Dean Myers' use of a hip-hop style combined with the short poems that tie this story together is addictive. The multi-voiced narration gives the reader the perspectives of all of the characters that are involved in this heartbreaking tale. Once you start reading, you'll want to keep going until you find out how Junice and Damien's story ends -- or, we hope, at least the first chapter of a longer story.
Walter Dean Myers has created a captivating tale of new love on the tough streets of New York City. Damien is a smart young man who is going places. He has already been accepted into Brown University and looks toward the future. His parents have sacrificed in order to provide him with a stable, loving, and supportive environment. His mother is diligent when it comes to his life. She doesn't want to him to fall prey to manipulating girls looking for a way out of their meaningless and disappointing lives.
Junice is a tall, beautiful girl with a lot on her plate. Her mother has just been sent to prison for twenty-five years for drug possession and now lives with her forgetful grandmother and younger sister. The responsibility of keeping everyone together falls on Junice. The Department of Human Services has reviewed their situation and found that the grandmother isn't well enough to care for the girls and plans to send them into the system--saying they'll try to keep Junice and her sister, Melissa, together, but that they can't promise anything.
When Damien sees Junice walking down the street one day he becomes entranced. Feelings swell in his chest and he knows he has changed. He is quickly pulled into the chaos that is Junice's life and wants to do whatever he can to help her. Against the wishes of his parents, he continues a relationship with her that takes him down a road -- quite literally -- that he would never have taken if Junice hadn't come into his life.
Walter Dean Myers' use of a hip-hop style combined with the short poems that tie this story together is addictive. The multi-voiced narration gives the reader the perspectives of all of the characters that are involved in this heartbreaking tale. Once you start reading, you'll want to keep going until you find out how Junice and Damien's story ends -- or, we hope, at least the first chapter of a longer story.
