DOPE SICK
Annotation:
After a drug deal gone bad Lil J goes into hiding from police in a burnt out crack house in Harlem where he he meets a man who shows him how his life could be different with just a few changes. But is this man real or is Lil J simply experiencing the affects of being dope sick?
After a drug deal gone bad Lil J goes into hiding from police in a burnt out crack house in Harlem where he he meets a man who shows him how his life could be different with just a few changes. But is this man real or is Lil J simply experiencing the affects of being dope sick?
Nomination:
I am nominating Walter Dean Myers’ Dope Sick for the Mock Printz award. This is the second title I have read by Myers and the second nomination. Like his Michael L. Printz Award winner Monster, Myers does excellent work getting inside the head and heart of an urban youth in modern America.
Dope Sick centers on a Harlem teen named Jeremy Dance. His friends and his girlfriend know him as Lil J. Lil J is a mixed up kid who, like so many teens, has way too much on his plate. He has been taking care of his physically and emotionally sick mother for as long as he can remember. He has an off-again on-again relationship with heroin. He has a baby with a girl who won’t allow him to see the child. And he has the self-added responsibility of looking ‘hard’ in the neighborhood even though he just wants out. Dope Sick is a realistic depiction of the ugliest side of growing up in poor, urban America. Lil J’s life comes into jeopardy when he is hiding out from the police who, thanks to his not-so-good friend Rico, believe he shot a cop who is fighting for his life. While in hiding and going through ‘dope sickness’, or withdrawals, he meets a man called Kelly who points out areas in Lil J’s life where he could have made better choices.
Myers is a master of writing about urban America. He has the candid and rough language of the street down. He understands the emotion of a teen that is stuck between what he wants to be and what he probably will be. The story is written in the first person view of Lil J which made it worth reading a second time. As Lil J goes through the dope sickness his conversation and interactions with Kelly become colorful and surreal leaving you wondering what is real and what is fantasy. This is a fun read that will keep you guessing on the outcome right up to the last page.
I am nominating Walter Dean Myers’ Dope Sick for the Mock Printz award. This is the second title I have read by Myers and the second nomination. Like his Michael L. Printz Award winner Monster, Myers does excellent work getting inside the head and heart of an urban youth in modern America.
Dope Sick centers on a Harlem teen named Jeremy Dance. His friends and his girlfriend know him as Lil J. Lil J is a mixed up kid who, like so many teens, has way too much on his plate. He has been taking care of his physically and emotionally sick mother for as long as he can remember. He has an off-again on-again relationship with heroin. He has a baby with a girl who won’t allow him to see the child. And he has the self-added responsibility of looking ‘hard’ in the neighborhood even though he just wants out. Dope Sick is a realistic depiction of the ugliest side of growing up in poor, urban America. Lil J’s life comes into jeopardy when he is hiding out from the police who, thanks to his not-so-good friend Rico, believe he shot a cop who is fighting for his life. While in hiding and going through ‘dope sickness’, or withdrawals, he meets a man called Kelly who points out areas in Lil J’s life where he could have made better choices.
Myers is a master of writing about urban America. He has the candid and rough language of the street down. He understands the emotion of a teen that is stuck between what he wants to be and what he probably will be. The story is written in the first person view of Lil J which made it worth reading a second time. As Lil J goes through the dope sickness his conversation and interactions with Kelly become colorful and surreal leaving you wondering what is real and what is fantasy. This is a fun read that will keep you guessing on the outcome right up to the last page.
hi, I just wanted to say is there a chance you could change your font color to anything but white its hard to read.
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