This books main purpose is to inform the reader on how drug dealers operate and how their lives are. I love the way that Allison van Diepen really gets inside Ty's head and uses her experience from teaching at a rough school to help others understand what these teens battle every day. I think that as a society we really don't understand why people deal drugs. Now I feel like I can understand why kids drug deal even after their parents get caught. I have heard that Brooklyn is really rough area multiple times but I think that this book really captures it. The way that the characters talk in this book is almost to stereotypical, I'm not sure if they actually talk this way but if they do it would make this far more real. The "last chance high school" is an interesting idea. A place where you can see so many teens from the bad neighborhood and all their stories. I think that addictions play an obvious major role in this book, especially when we see some characters start to fall and crumble around their need for the drugs. They truly are slaves to their addictions.
Characters:
Ty: I never really though about how a drug dealer feels about what he's doing, but reading from Ty's point of view truly taught me what happens in this business. That is really what it is, or at least how Ty thinks of it. It's just the same as if they owned a pharmacy. Maybe he thinks of it this way to sooth his conscious, or maybe that's what Orlando taught him. I felt horrible when Ty got shot because I realized that he was really not that different than any other teenager. He's just a person who got caught in a bad situation. I was super pumped when he quit the business and chose the right thing for him not his father.
Sonny: I really do think that Sonny was the brother that Ty never had. I was so upset when he died, but it was bound to happen and if he hadn't I doubt that Ty would have quit.
Alyse: I was shocked when she said that she was turning tricks. She seems like such a sweet girl, innocent and uptight. Then when we see that she's a mother it all makes sense. I think she's a good mother from what I read.
Orlando: This man never really cared about Ty the way a father should with his son. He just wanted someone he could rule over and direct. I hope he rots in prison.
K-ron: I wonder what he got paid to rat on Ty and Sonny.
Ty's Mom: She is such a sweet lady and to think she left Orlando just for Ty only for Ty to get caught back up. At least in the end he got away from it all.
Monfrey: I think that he's Ty's best friend. He really owes Ty for putting hi in rehab when Ty was trained just to walk away from that situation. I'm so happy that Monfrey turned out alright in the end.
Moments to Remember:
♥Pg. 18
" 'Chill, Mom, chill. You know it ain't like that. Monday, call the school to see if I showed up.' I put my hand over hers and gave her my best smile. 'Pack me peanut butter and jelly, yo?' "
♥Pg. 41
" Now I ain't saying that young hustler can't ever have a girlfriend. But I say wait until you're twenty-one, get her tested for all the diseases you can think of and some shit you never heard of, and set her up right. "
♥Pg. 205
" 2513 Nostrand Avenue was a redbrick townhouse. When the cab stopped at the curb I saw a curtain pull back in the front room. A little girl stood there and waved.
A hit man with kids. "
♥Pg. 295
" 'Rob said you quit the business.'
'Yeah. I won't even sell you an Advil.' "
Thanks for reading,
Love,
Sidny xoxo
