AND THEN THERE WERE SHOTS
Everybody
ran,
ducked,
hid, tucked
themselves tight.
Pressed our lips to the
pavement and prayed
the boom, followed by
the buzz of a bullet,
didn't meet us.
After Will's brother is shot in a gang crime, he knows the next steps. Don't cry. Don't snitch. Get revenge. So he gets in the lift with Shawn's gun, determined to follow The Rules. Only when the lift door opens, Buck walks in, Will's friend who died years ago. And Dani, who was shot years before that. As more people from his past arrive, Will has to ask himself if he really knows what he's doing.
This haunting, lyrical, powerful verse novel will blow you away.
It's amazing how so few words could deliver so much emotion and meaning. I found tears in my eyes quite a few times as I rode that elevator with Will. The elevator stopped on each floor, picking up a passenger, who reminded me of Will's lost innocence, lost childhood, lost faith in the system. I found tears in my eyes, because I know that there are many kids like Will.
A very powerful story about inner city culture, pain, loss, and choice.
