Show and Prove
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
"A must-read for fans of Walter Dean Myer's All the Right Stuff and other lovers of proud urban realism." —Kirkus Reviews
The summer of 1983 was the summer hip-hop proved its staying power. The South Bronx is steeped in Reaganomics, war in the Middle East, and the twin epidemics of crack and AIDS, but Raymond “Smiles” King and Guillermo “Nike” Vega have more immediate concerns.
Smiles was supposed to be the assistant crew chief at his summer camp, but the director chose Cookie Camacho instead, kicking off a summer-long rivalry. Meanwhile, the aspiring b-boy Nike has set his wandering eye on Sara, the sweet yet sassy new camp counselor, as well as top prize at a breakdancing competition downtown. The two friends have been drifting apart ever since Smiles got a scholarship to a fancy private school, and this summer the air is heavy with postponed decisions that will finally be made.
Raw and poignant, this is a story of music, urban plight, and racial tension that’s as relevant today as it was in 1983.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's 1983, and best friends Nike and Smiles are working as camp counselors at a church in the South Bronx. This summer, there's friction, since Smiles transferred to a Manhattan private school, leaving Nike behind. As they approach senior year, Smiles realizes how his education has changed him, wrestling with what W.E.B. Du Bois called "double consciousness" a foot in two worlds, an outsider in both. Nike's problems are less philosophical: neighborhood gangsters are after him, and he's in love with a girl who keeps him at arm's length, something the stylish break-dancer isn't used to. The boys take turns narrating in a Bronx patois ("I couldn't ruin my fly outfits with those fugly Sasquatch rentals with the fat orange wheels and matching toe stop," says Nike, who brings his own skates to a roller rink), and Quintero's (Efrain's Secret) novel brims with crises of the day: budget cuts brought on by Reaganomics, war in the Middle East, AIDS, and the crack epidemic. Readers who settle into its rhythms will find a compelling story about how impossibly hard it can be to simply grow up. Ages 12 up.
