Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun by Geoffrey Canada

  

          If you know what it's like growing up in the city and living in the roughest neighborhoods, then you will be able to compare this book to your life. 

          This book is a story of a guy growing up in those neighborhoods. It tells about how things were around the places where they lived because they would be moving constantly for different reasons. It also tells about him and his two brothers who had to go through the same things. The book tells about the fighting in the “hood”  just to see who could actually have a little bit of freedom to play. They would always be fighting since he was little because it was like a system they would follow to see who was the toughest. The guy had many problems with other kids when he was young and every time it was for the same reasons - rank, respect, and freedom.

          When he got older he became a counselor at a school he once attended. He did that because he knew the problems he had when he was young would still be going on at this point. He wanted to help kids focus their mind on something else and not just fight every day.

          At first, he had problems trying to figure out how kids in the school worked and how they behaved during school. It took him about a year or so to understand the rules they had when it came to fighting and how they planned their troublemaking actions. After that, he began to talk and settle things with the students who were the most likely to get into trouble. And he did all of this because he didn't want these  innocent kids living the hard and rough life he was living. He wanted to make a change in that community. That's what he accomplished as a counselor in that school.

          So, if you’re willing to read about a guy who had to go through a lot at a young age just to survive around the city's neighborhoods and how he grows up to make a change in other kids' lives, read Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun.

Diego C.

 

Babylon Boyz by: Jess Mowry

It was a good book because I was able to relate to it. Other people might like it because even though not everyone would be able to relate to it, it is interesting. It keeps you wondering what is going to happen next. The book is about a group of kids who stumble across a suitcase of pure cocaine. They have to decide whether to sell it or just throw it away.

Gerardo J.

Two Badges by Mona Ruiz

This book is a very good book if you like inspirational stories and want to see how much people struggle but make good things come out of it. This book is about a young girl who lives in Santa Ana, California and joins a gang called the F-Troopers. The story tells a lot about how she struggles as a young girl, dropping out of school, getting pregnant and marrying an abusive husband who hit her in front of her children. Her dream, as well as her dad’s, has always been to become a police officer of Santa Ana. As she grows up, she faces many decisions. Her biggest decision is whether to follow her dream and become a police officer or keep on gang banging and go against some of her family members and friends.


I really liked this book because it shows how a young girl struggles so much growing up and how many hard decisions she went through but made the best of the experiences she had. I recommend other students read this book because it shows no matter how bad things are in your life you can always get out and become anything in life you want.

Magali C.

Street Pharm by Allison van Diepen

Allison van Diepen's book, “Street Pharm”, is a work of fiction. If you have read Allison van Diepen, you will enjoy reading “Street Pharm” because it tells the story of Ty Johnson, the street pharmacist. Ty Johnson was born into the business but his father gets arrested and Ty takes over his dad’s business at the age of 16. Ty and his mother do not have money so Ty takes over and deals dope.

Arthur R.

Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz by Ramona Ruiz

Wow! This book was great! There's a short story behind how it got into my hands. It was sophomore year and I was sitting in Saturday school, not really doing anything, when all of a sudden this one teacher approached me and handed me “Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz”. I pretended I was reading but really I was taking a nap. So I took it home and just threw it on top of my dresser. Ever since then it has been sitting there until Mrs. Cobbett, my Writer's Workshop teacher, gave us a reading assignment. I went home after the school day was over and came back with the book.

I started reading and right after the first chapter, I could not stop. It was so intriguing! This book is the true story of a gang banger-turned-cop. Ramona Sandoval begins with one under-cover mission at her old stomping grounds. The under-cover operation was a success but Little John appeared. It was the first time the drug junkie had appeared in front of Mona since she had left the gang scene almost a decade earlier. While in high school, Mona met Frankie at a party and after a couple of months, they moved in together. They eventually had three kids together but Frankie became abusive toward Mona and she had to get out of that situation. She needed a job so she went to the police station. While there she met many officers and sergeants willing to help her. They provided her with information and economic support. She realized her wildest dream was becoming a reality. She was now a Santa Ana Police Officer. The rest…well check out the book and you'll find out. I have so much I can say about this book but you have to read it on your own! It will be worth it! As you are reading, you feel as if you are there with Mona.

Rosa D.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

I think this book is very interesting and very exciting. This book has it all; murders, drugs, sex and it is very descriptive on all three of these topics. The author, Mario Puzo, also wrote “The Sicilian” and based this book in Chicago. He put a lot of trust and betrayal in the story as well.

This story is about the "Corleone Family", a mafia family, and their rise to the top of mafia families. This book is filled with corruption, inside and out of the families, and filled with violence and some romance. A must read!

Amatore L.

My Bloody Life by Reymundo Sanchez

My Bloody Life is a true story about an abused child who turns into a violent gang member. The author starts out in Chicago where he is harassed by whites and abused by his mother. Eventually they move to Puerto Rico and leave him behind with his step-brother. He joins the Latin Kings, a violent street gang, and commits murders, drug trafficking and burglaries. He realizes he needs to get out and that is the most interesting part of the story. This was a great book because it delves into the human psyche on why humans commit crimes. I recommend it to everyone.


Dakota E.

Street Pharm By Allison Van Diepen

The book, Street Pharm, is about a seventeen year old guy, Ty Johnson, who lives in Brooklyn. Orlando Johnson is his father and he is a well known drug dealer. While Orlando is in jail for dealing drugs, Ty is keeping his father’s business going and is a very successful drug dealer. Ty is an intelligent teenager who is already making a lot of money and living the life. Ty gets kicked out of school for fighting and starts going to a last chance school. While at this school he meets a girl he starts to like. They begin to hang out a lot and she starts liking him but she does not know he deals drugs. Ty tries to hide the fact he is dealing drugs because she does not want her son to be raised around drugs.

Ty's mom does not like the fact he is running his father’s drug business. Struggling to hold onto the pieces of his father's business, he faces competition from out of town and things get serious. When Ty starts to get competition from other drug dealers, stuff starts to get heated. One day Ty is walking out of a store and sees a car going by slowly. Bullets start flying and he gets shot and ends up in the hospital. The cops start to ask questions about why he was shot and if he is a drug dealer. Ty denies being involved with anything. Ty asks his friend to find out who shot him and he finds out it is a drug gang from Florida. They want to start dealing drugs in Brooklyn and take over Ty's territory. After the shooting, Ty does not go back to school and moves out of his mother's apartment and gets his own place. He has to decide if he should keep going down the road he's going and lose the people who are closest to him or if he should stop the drug dealing and get a real job.

Kevin K.

Married to the Game by Chunichi

Chunichi did an excellent job on this sequel to "A Gangster's Girl". This book is filled with drama from the hood, to the strip club, to a gangster's life style, down to love. It has a mixture of classy females and dirty females as well. The plot: having killed the love of her life, Ceazia comes back to renew her title and destroy the relationship of her brother and her brother’s girlfriend. However, in the process, she finds herself being a mentor to her nephew's girlfriend and doesn't even realize this until the shoot out in the middle of the book. Now that Ceazia has lost everything, she goes after Vegas' brother, Snake, and desires any other man willing to keep her in designer labels. However, it'll take that perfect "trick" to get the cash she once had when she was with Vegas and she knows just how to do it. She's conniving, deceitful and sneaky. Whatever she has to do to get what she wants, whoever she brings down in the process and how ever long it takes she is willing to do just that to get what she wants. Snake's nephew, Duke, is also all wrapped up in the drama of Ceazia and Snake and many other people as well. Duke and his girlfriend, BJ, have found themselves trapped in this story of revenge, betrayal and murder- Ceazia style. While Duke is learning how to be a "man" by the streets’ stature, BJ is learning how to be a woman in Ceazia’s eyes. The end results aren’t promising at all. A gangster’s way of living and a girlfriend by day, stripper by night mentality is the road these teenagers are walking down when being mentored by Snake and Ceazia.


Ashley J.

Once a King Always a King by Reymundo Sanchez

I liked this book because it showed the true colors of a former Latin King. It also showed that being in a gang is not worth it. It teaches you to be careful with whom you are friends. All in all I just liked how it really made the point that it can change someone’s life if they are in a gang. I think other students would like this book because it’s the truth. It’s what really does happen in a gang. It tells about the consequences gang members face and what they must do to stay in the Latin Kings. And if it isn’t scary already, this book took place in our very own hometown of Chicago. All the names are changed for security reasons but the story still has the same effect.

Antonella M.

My Bloody Life: the Making of a Latin King. By: Reymundo Sanchez

I really liked reading this book for many reasons. This book talks about the reality of gangs. It is about a boy who lives in Puerto Rico with his mom where he gets raped by his cousin but is forced to keep quiet. He is taken to Chicago to have a better life with his family but his mom ends up abusing him very violently. They then go back to Puerto Rico but he eventually comes back to Chicago to live his life with his step brother. He becomes involved in gang related situations but does not join until he is forced into joining the Latin Kings for his own safety. He then gets into severe crimes like dealing drugs, murder, burglary and other things. He experiences sex, alcohol and drugs as a preteen.

Joanna D.

The Ice Man by Philip Carlo

The Ice Man is a true story about Richard Kuklinski, a mafia hit man, who has killed over two hundred people. The book goes really in-depth about his personal life and his "work life". Richard says when he kills he has no remorse.

Brendan C.