Chameleon - Hardcover

Smith Jr., Charles R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763630853 ISBN 13: 9780763630850

Publisher: Candlewick, 2008

Synopsis

"Kids will grab this for the immediacy in the scenes, the brutal standoffs, the fast talk at the ball court, and the elemental conflicts of coming-of-age." — Booklist

Shooting the breeze with his boys. Tightening his D on the court. Doing a color check — making sure nobody's wearing blue or red, which some Crip or Piru carrying a cut-down golf club would see as disrespect. Then back to Auntie's, hoping she isn't passed out from whiskey at the end of the day. Now that Shawn is headed for high school, he wonders if he'd be better off at the school in Mama's neighborhood, where he'd be free of Compton's hassles. But then he wouldn't be with his fellas — cracking jokes, covering each other's backs — or the fine Marisol, who's been making star appearances in his dreams. Dad says he needs to make his own decision, but what does Shawn want, freedom or friendship? With teasing, spot-on dialogue and an eye to the realities of inner-city life, Chameleon takes on the shifting moods of a teenager coming of age.

About this title

About the Author:

Charles R. Smith Jr. is the author of Hoop Queens and its companion, Hoop Kings, as well as Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, winner of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and a Sugarman Award. He lives in Poughkeepsie, New York.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6–8—It's a typical summer for 14-year-old Shawn. He's hanging out with his friends and avoiding confrontations with the roving gangs of Crips and Pirus, who think they own the streets of Compton, where his aunt lives and where he goes to school. But as he gets older and life on the L.A. streets starts to get more dangerous, Shawn begins to think that he'd fare better in the suburb where his parents live, even though he'd be a latchkey kid. And after a particularly vicious fight with a group of older gang members and some embarrassing scenes with drunken Aunt Gertie, Shawn's parents agree that he should attend his local high school in the fall. Is Shawn willing to trade his friendships with his loyal boys, not to mention a budding relationship with Marisol, in exchange for calm and stability in a new school where he knows no one? This episodic tale moves at the pace of the longest, hottest days of summer–slow, slow, slow. Despite the gritty and realistically drawn inner-city setting, most readers won't be able to maintain their interest through endless descriptions of minor incidents that never seem to build to anything substantive. Even the story's climactic fight fails to spark any real movement in the plot. Smith does a commendable job evoking the sights and sounds of street life, but without strong plotting, this meandering novel doesn't satisfy.—Meredith Robbins, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York City
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About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0763630853
• ISBN 13: 9780763630850
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384