A Trio of Great Teen Reads from Zandra

DOPE SICK by Walter Dean Myers

Life is full of choices.  If you had it to do all over again, would you make different ones?

Lil J finds himself in trouble after he participates in a drug deal gone bad, which leaves a police officer clinging to life and Lil J holding the gun.   As he tries to elude capture by the numerous cops on his trail, Lil J ends up in an abandoned building where he encounters a mysterious man who shows him episodes of his life on a television.  In each instance Lil J relives a moment where a choice he made helped to land him in the position he now  finds himself.  Lil J is forced to come to terms with his choices by the mystery man who constantly asks the question: “If you could take back anything you did, what would it be?”  Prolific Young Adult author Walter Dean Myers offers up a novel that is sure to get teens to think about the decisions they make and their consequences.

IF I GROW UP by Todd Strasser

“When you grew up in the projects, there were no choices.  No good one, at least.”

If I Grow Up offers a gritty, realistic view of growing up in the inner city where teens face touch circumstances and limited choices.  Deshawn, unlike many of his peers, is a good student and obeys his grandmother.  He knows that life in a gang or being a drug dealer is not for him, yet his options seem scarce as he struggles to take care of his family.  Although at times a bit heavy-handed, the message in this book is clear.  Strasser clearly illustrates that without positive role models, support and direction, even the best teen can get caught up in wrong situations.  One cannot help but to root for Deshawn as he tries to do the right thing and feel heartbroken when he succumbs to his environment.

JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia

Sometimes what you don’t say means more than what you do.

What would you do if you overheard someone saying they were going to jump someone after school and that someone doesn’t have a clue?  Would you let them know, or would you stay out of it and not say anything?  This is the dilemma Leticia finds herself in when she overhears Dominique announce that afterschool she is going to beat up Trina because she “cut into” her space as she passed by in the hallway.  Told in the alternating viewpoints of Leticia, Dominique and Trina, this novel gives readers a frightening and realistic look at teen angst and bullying.  Williams-Garcia does a masterful job at showing how the lives of these very different girls connect and how choices can have serious consequences.

– Zandra