A series of short stories about the people who live on one block of 145th Street in Harlem. Each story tells of an unusual incident in the life of oneA series of short stories about the people who live on one block of 145th Street in Harlem. Each story tells of an unusual incident in the life of one of the residents. Book smart Monkeyman gets jumped by a rival gang for stopping them from slashing a girl. Big Joe decides to cash in life insurance and stage a funeral party for himself. Each tells the block's story from their point of view and position in life.
Grittier and probably more "urban" than the Bluford series, but still pretty clean without graphic descriptions of the violence, drug use and more negative sides of the stories....more
Darcy Wills and Brisana Meeks were friends in grade school, but when Darcy starts hanging around with new friends in high school, Brisana drops her thDarcy Wills and Brisana Meeks were friends in grade school, but when Darcy starts hanging around with new friends in high school, Brisana drops her then tries to steal her boyfriend Hakeem. Darcy is also dealing with her father coming back into their lives after abandoning them 5 years earlier, and her grandmother ailing with Alzheimer's. Darcy has to learn to trust again so she can be happy.
This takes place at Bluford High, which is supposedly urban, but these characters don't seem to be poor, or involved in much violent behavior, except for the drive-by shooting scene. They seem to be pretty tame and suburban....more