Appeal Characteristics: friendship, secrets, bullying, urban lifestyle, father-son relationship, low income families, public schools, hip-hop/rapSometimes people hurt others only because they're hurting. That basically sums up this whole book. It was an interesting look at life from biracial perspective of Hispanic/Black culture. This is another great look at being a young male without a father and how it affects your identity especially in "coming of age stories." The group of friends is the center of the story because most kids have "their" circle of friends...friends they trust, friends who they think of as family. I felt the main message is that friends can help/hurt their friends lives for better or worse depending on how they handle some of the situations they go through.
