What's Going On Here?

There are SO MANY wonderful book review blogs out there and I can't compete with them, that is for sure. So this is not a book review blog. This is just a way for me to organize what I have read so that I can be better at matching the right book to the right person. The blog title comes from the brilliant mind of the most talented woman who ever lived, Ms. Judy Garland. The full quote is, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else." That is what I hope to do here and in ever aspect of my life.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Walter D. M. Can't Miss

That actually sounds like a titel of a book by Walter Dean Myers, the ULTIMATE KING of urban YA fiction. How do I love thee, Water Dean Myers? Let me count the ways: Scorpions, Slam!, Monster and a bunch more. I love thee because when I was booktalking to high school students who didn't like to read so much, I knew I could count on you to have written books that would grab their interest. I love thee because your writing is just so darn real-- even in the case of Dope Sick which bring supernatural elements to the rough city streets. Lil' J has just been part of dope deal gone very wrong. A cop has been shot and the police are after him. In the middle of the night he stumbles into an abandoned building where he meets Kelly, a dude just sitting alone in a room with a television and a remote control. Kelly's tv must be a combo of FIOS, Comcast and DishTV , however as it is able to playback pretty much all of the important moments in Lil' J's life. Kelly asks Lil' J, "If you could do it all over, and change something, what would it be?" The two spend the night reviewing the highlights and lowlights of Lil J's life. Lil' J talks about his mother's struggles with addiction and his own, his girlfriend who has his baby on the way and much more. A quick and powerful book.

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