Tyrell is a young, stubborn African American living in the streets of the Bronx. With a burn-out mom and a jailed father, he attempts to get himself and his 7 year old brother Kai out of the ghetto and away from the streets while constantly moving between homeless shelters. Although he’s forced to do some things illegally to accomplish his dream.

The theme of the book is that not all things are accomplished along with boosting your morality. Tyrell is put into many situations where he has to either do the right thing or the wrong thing, and the wrong thing often puts him ahead of where he is at. So he has to decide whether he wants to feel bad for what he has done and be farther ahead or do the right thing and feel good about himself. This has taught me that doing the wrong thing often makes you feel bad about yourself, although offering quicker, yet ill-gotten, results in putting yourself ahead of where you’re at, so doing the right thing makes you feel better about your choices, but often leads to slower results.
This book explains and gives multiple examples of racism and how African Americans are treated in this general area and how much trouble they go through in their lives. Tyrell is not able to get a real job because he’s black and is often called racial slurs. The author grew up in this kind of environment and has a first person view of what it’s like to be in this type of place. I learned how rough some kids have it and how difficult it is to remove yourself from poverty.
In my opinion, this book is great and is a must read. This book gives a thorough example of a young African American who struggles to keep his head through tough times and who faces racism and segregation constantly throughout his young adult life.
The great book offers a genius, new perspective on racism and really emphasizes the work a colored person has to go through to make a name for themselves in the world. The majority of the book is based off of real life encounters that Coe Booth had had during her childhood. The book even uses slang that only heard in this part of the country, and that most people have never heard before.