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wordnerd153's review against another edition
3.0
As a priveleged white woman in her 30's, I had a hard time relating to the the lives of Darius and Twig, two teenagers of color who live in poverty in Harlem. I could, however, appreciate the story they had to tell and understand Twig's love of running and Darius's passion for writing. I felt a bit let down by the abrupt ending, but I'm glad Myers didn't wrap things up with some terrible event, which would have been easy to do considering the setting and challenges faced by the two main characters. A good read for high school students who may be facing challenges in their own family or community and who enjoy realistic urban fiction.
leeann20's review against another edition
4.0
very good, inner city struggles to do better with life. even the bullies can be sympathetic characters
katiegrrrl's review against another edition
5.0
Everything Walter Dean Myers wrote was amazing and this is no different. There doesn't seem to be a lot that happens in this book, action wise, but what I loved about this is it simply a story about friendship, supporting friends, day to day life in a rough neighborhood and doing what is right.
2017 Popsugar Challenge - book with a characters name in the title
2017 Popsugar Challenge - book with a characters name in the title
profejmarie's review against another edition
4.0
This may not have been my favorite of Myers' books, but I liked the friendship between Darius and Twig and I loved their dreams - and how they felt conflicted about them. It was very real. A good, quick read.
randyribay's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. I usually love Myers, but this one felt more like an old man shaking his fist at kids these days than a YA story.
srousseau's review against another edition
3.0
Darius and Twig live in Harlem. Life is hard for both of them and their families. They each have a skill - one runs and the other writes. They support each other to try to use their skills to make a better life for themselves.
This was a good story about friendship in difficult circumstances. It's a quick read that wraps up everything in a neat ending. Somehow I felt that the writing kept the reader at a distance. I wished them well, but wasn't fully invested in their lives.
This was a good story about friendship in difficult circumstances. It's a quick read that wraps up everything in a neat ending. Somehow I felt that the writing kept the reader at a distance. I wished them well, but wasn't fully invested in their lives.
tanid's review against another edition
3.0
I was actually expecting to not enjoy this book - I won a copy when it was our book of the month at book club and was a bit worried that I would never read it because it 'isn't my thing'. That being said, this actually surprised me.
The story is told from the point of view of Darius, a talented writer who is trying hard but essentially has life getting in his way and on top of him. Through the novel we see events in their neighbourhood - fights, shootings, and the struggles of people trying to hold down jobs and apartments - and Darius' reflections on becoming a better person and how this world will always try to drag him and Twig back in.
Although there are, obviously, events throughout the course of the book, through Darius' perception what we see more of is reflection and his relationship with Twig, whose success as a runner is hope to him. Myers creates an exploration of the characters and their ideas, rather than placing them inside events that make us get to know them, so although a lot happens within this small book it doesn't seem to rush by too fast, and we also get more of a feel for this just being the characters life.
I can't really explain what I'm trying to say. But the way that this was written made it more interesting than if it had been two characters inserted into a series of events, instead of what it is - a series of events occurring through the course of two characters' lives.
The things that I found strange was that you can sense that this is a book that could be used in schools as you read it, which gave a strong sense of 'this should be teaching me something'. I'm not going to analyse what I thought it was saying, but just found it strange to be reading something and recognising that. I have clearly been reading too much YA fantasy!
The story is told from the point of view of Darius, a talented writer who is trying hard but essentially has life getting in his way and on top of him. Through the novel we see events in their neighbourhood - fights, shootings, and the struggles of people trying to hold down jobs and apartments - and Darius' reflections on becoming a better person and how this world will always try to drag him and Twig back in.
Although there are, obviously, events throughout the course of the book, through Darius' perception what we see more of is reflection and his relationship with Twig, whose success as a runner is hope to him. Myers creates an exploration of the characters and their ideas, rather than placing them inside events that make us get to know them, so although a lot happens within this small book it doesn't seem to rush by too fast, and we also get more of a feel for this just being the characters life.
I can't really explain what I'm trying to say. But the way that this was written made it more interesting than if it had been two characters inserted into a series of events, instead of what it is - a series of events occurring through the course of two characters' lives.
The things that I found strange was that you can sense that this is a book that could be used in schools as you read it, which gave a strong sense of 'this should be teaching me something'. I'm not going to analyse what I thought it was saying, but just found it strange to be reading something and recognising that. I have clearly been reading too much YA fantasy!
cweichel's review against another edition
4.0
"All of fiction is truthful. What you create is your own truth and no one can take that away or change it." - Walter Dean Myers
I love this book. I love these boys.
Darius and Twig are best friends. They are growing up in Harlem and dreaming of ways out. They live inside a world filled with layers of pain. It isn't easy. They have to cope with bullies and gangs. The have to overcome poverty and alcoholic parents. There is violence and guns and drugs. They have to figure out who they can trust.
These boys are smart. They know they have gifts that might help them get out of the world they are in. Darius is a young author on the cusp of being published. Twig is a long distance runner. Still, without one another, they are lost. Even then it's iffy. "Twig thinks I am growing dark, and he is right. He wants me to live through the pain. I don't think I can." They know they can trust each other to be supportive at the same time as keeping one another honest and true.
They are aware that the odds might be stacked against them. "The chorus in school was that if you did the right thing, that if you worked hard you would succeed. And how many worlds was that true in? Was it true in my mothers world? Was it true in my fathers world?" Can these boys do it?
I like that Myers posits significant adult characters to act as understated role models and mentors. At school is Miss Carroll, the writing teacher, and Mr Day, the coach. At home, two charming old men, Mr Watson and Sammy Hines, hang out on the stairs joshing each and offering up advice and support to the boys and the neighbourhood. It does indeed take a community to raise a child, especially in these kinds of circumstances.
Walter Dean Myers' writing is heart stopping glorious. Every once in a while I experience it at a visceral level and am filled, simultaneously, with darkness and light.
Some quotes will haunt me for a long time.
"That's one thing we get to be good at, be quiet when we are hurt."
"Maybe the boy did have faith in the dolphins. He had just lost faith in everything else"
I'm definitely getting a copy for our library.
from my blog at http://dickenslibrary.blogspot.ca/
I love this book. I love these boys.
Darius and Twig are best friends. They are growing up in Harlem and dreaming of ways out. They live inside a world filled with layers of pain. It isn't easy. They have to cope with bullies and gangs. The have to overcome poverty and alcoholic parents. There is violence and guns and drugs. They have to figure out who they can trust.
These boys are smart. They know they have gifts that might help them get out of the world they are in. Darius is a young author on the cusp of being published. Twig is a long distance runner. Still, without one another, they are lost. Even then it's iffy. "Twig thinks I am growing dark, and he is right. He wants me to live through the pain. I don't think I can." They know they can trust each other to be supportive at the same time as keeping one another honest and true.
They are aware that the odds might be stacked against them. "The chorus in school was that if you did the right thing, that if you worked hard you would succeed. And how many worlds was that true in? Was it true in my mothers world? Was it true in my fathers world?" Can these boys do it?
I like that Myers posits significant adult characters to act as understated role models and mentors. At school is Miss Carroll, the writing teacher, and Mr Day, the coach. At home, two charming old men, Mr Watson and Sammy Hines, hang out on the stairs joshing each and offering up advice and support to the boys and the neighbourhood. It does indeed take a community to raise a child, especially in these kinds of circumstances.
Walter Dean Myers' writing is heart stopping glorious. Every once in a while I experience it at a visceral level and am filled, simultaneously, with darkness and light.
Some quotes will haunt me for a long time.
"That's one thing we get to be good at, be quiet when we are hurt."
"Maybe the boy did have faith in the dolphins. He had just lost faith in everything else"
I'm definitely getting a copy for our library.
from my blog at http://dickenslibrary.blogspot.ca/