Two inner-city teenagers--Dante, who badly needs a heart operation, and Pook, who dreams of going to medical school--are confronted with a difficult choice when they stumble upon a cache of cocaine whose sale would give them their dreams but contribute to the demise of their community.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Jess Mowry, author of Way Past Cool, hits the ground running with another powerful exploration of how the world looks and feels for black, inner-city teens. Dante, Pook, and Wyatt don't have many choices in life. Dante might never be able to afford the operation that could fix his heart (damaged before birth by his mother's crack addiction). When they unexpectedly find a large package of pure cocaine, new possibilities dance in front of their eyes. Could they sell the drugs to get money for Dante's operation? His characterizations strong, well-formed, and unpredictable; Mowry spray paints Babylon in raw and honest strokes.
From Publishers Weekly
The moral dilemma that challenges three inner-city boys who find cocaine packets worth thousands of dollars "is only one of the issues in this fast-paced, increasingly tense drama," said PW in a starred review, also praising dialogue "that feels so genuine it nearly jumps off the page." Ages 12-up. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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More About the Author
Jess Mowry was born to an African American father, and a Caucasian mother. When he was only a few months old, his mother abandoned him. His father took Jess to Oakland, California where he supported himself and his son by working as a crane operator, truck driver, and scrap metal salvager. Jess's father was a voracious reader who introduced his son to books at a very early age. Jess attended public school but despite his love of reading was not an above-average student. He dropped out of school at age thirteen, part way through the eighth grade. After leaving school, Mowry worked with his father in the scrap-iron business, and in his late teens moved to Arizona to work as a truck driver and heavy equipment operator. He also lived and worked in Alaska as an engineer aboard a tugboat and as an aircraft mechanic on Douglas C-47 cargo planes.
Returning to Oakland in the early 1980s, Jess began working with kids at a youth center, reading to them and often making up stories because there were very few books that innercity youth could relate to. Later he began to write stories. In 1988, Jess sent one of his stories to Howard Junker, editor of Zyzzyva magazine in San Francisco. Junker rejected the tale but asked to see more work, and published the second story Jess sent. Mowry bought a 1923 Underwood typewriter for eight dollars and within a year his work was appearing in literary magazines in the United States and abroad.
In 1990, Mowry's first collection of stories, Rats in the Trees, won a PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. Rats in the Trees was also published in the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. In 1991, Mowry's first novel, Children Of The Night, was published by Holloway House in Los Angeles. In 1992, his second novel, Way Past Cool, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux of New York. Way Past Cool was also published in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Japan. Way Past Cool was optioned for a film, for which Mowry co-wrote the screenplay. The film, Way Past Cool, was produced by Redeemable Features in 2000 with director Adam Davidson and executive producers Norman Lear and Milos Forman. Other novels followed, including Six Out Seven, Babylon Boyz, Bones Become Flowers, Skeleton Key, Phat Acceptance and Voodu Dawgz.
Mowry's characters and settings range from gun-toting gang kids in Oakland to young Voodoo apprentices in New Orleans' French Quarter, to teenage airplane pilots and child-soldiers in Africa. As Mowry's puts it: "Almost all my stories and books are for and about black kids who are not always cute and cuddly. My characters often spit, sweat and swear, as well as occasionally smoke or drink. Just like their real-world counterparts, some are 'overweight,' may look 'too black,' or are otherwise unacceptable by superficial American values. Like on-the-real kids, they often live in dirty and violent environments, and are forced into sometimes unpleasant lifestyles."
Jess Mowry emerged during the mid- 1990s as one of America's most original and important--yet relatively unheralded black writers. His low profile is as much a matter of personal preference as of any lack of merit or of public interest in his writing. Mowry has declined to take the easy way, refusing to be seduced by fame or money into writing the kind of black ghetto fiction that mainstream publishers seem to want. Instead, Mowry remains socially committed and aware; he prefers doing things his way as he works to improve the lives and self-image of black street kids.
Returning to Oakland in the early 1980s, Jess began working with kids at a youth center, reading to them and often making up stories because there were very few books that innercity youth could relate to. Later he began to write stories. In 1988, Jess sent one of his stories to Howard Junker, editor of Zyzzyva magazine in San Francisco. Junker rejected the tale but asked to see more work, and published the second story Jess sent. Mowry bought a 1923 Underwood typewriter for eight dollars and within a year his work was appearing in literary magazines in the United States and abroad.
In 1990, Mowry's first collection of stories, Rats in the Trees, won a PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. Rats in the Trees was also published in the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. In 1991, Mowry's first novel, Children Of The Night, was published by Holloway House in Los Angeles. In 1992, his second novel, Way Past Cool, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux of New York. Way Past Cool was also published in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Japan. Way Past Cool was optioned for a film, for which Mowry co-wrote the screenplay. The film, Way Past Cool, was produced by Redeemable Features in 2000 with director Adam Davidson and executive producers Norman Lear and Milos Forman. Other novels followed, including Six Out Seven, Babylon Boyz, Bones Become Flowers, Skeleton Key, Phat Acceptance and Voodu Dawgz.
Mowry's characters and settings range from gun-toting gang kids in Oakland to young Voodoo apprentices in New Orleans' French Quarter, to teenage airplane pilots and child-soldiers in Africa. As Mowry's puts it: "Almost all my stories and books are for and about black kids who are not always cute and cuddly. My characters often spit, sweat and swear, as well as occasionally smoke or drink. Just like their real-world counterparts, some are 'overweight,' may look 'too black,' or are otherwise unacceptable by superficial American values. Like on-the-real kids, they often live in dirty and violent environments, and are forced into sometimes unpleasant lifestyles."
Jess Mowry emerged during the mid- 1990s as one of America's most original and important--yet relatively unheralded black writers. His low profile is as much a matter of personal preference as of any lack of merit or of public interest in his writing. Mowry has declined to take the easy way, refusing to be seduced by fame or money into writing the kind of black ghetto fiction that mainstream publishers seem to want. Instead, Mowry remains socially committed and aware; he prefers doing things his way as he works to improve the lives and self-image of black street kids.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Babylon with a bullet!,
By Mark Taylor (BROOKLYN!) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Babylon Boyz (Paperback)
I found Jess Mowry's book Babylon Boyz in my school library when I had to do a book report and first I thought oh yeah here is just another one of those boring "young adult books" by some old person who doesn't know anything about Black kids. Man, was this a surprise! This book is ON THA REAL! It's a story about three homeboys who live in West Oakland California. There is something different about each one of them that keeps them from being liked by most of the "G's" and "cool" kids in their school. Dante who is 13 and the main character was born to a mom who was on crack (she died). There is something wrong with his heart so he can't play sports or do a lot of physical things. The hospital could fix it but that would take a lot of money. Another boy named Wyatt is a great big fat kid who likes animals and going to the zoo. He has a big snake and a family of pet rats in his room which he shares with his little brother Cheo who is also very fat. Their mom runs a little cafe down by the docks. Dante's other homie is a muscular boy of 14. His name is Pook and his "problem" is that he's tha only gay boy in his school. He is a good student and wants to be a doctor but he doesn't have tha money to go to Medical School. I am not gay myself but reading about him helped me to understand gay people a lot better. All three have known each other since they were toothless. Dante's dad is an engineer on a tugboat and is gone a lot of tha time but there is a lot of love between him and his son. Tha story is set when tha boys find a big pack of coke that was thrown away by a drug dealer when he was getting chased by tha cops. His name is Air Touch. He's 18 and a typical wannabe gangstuh. Tha three boys also make friends with a mysterious homeless kid named Radgi and try to help him get off the street. At first tha boys think what they found is only crack and are ready to give it tha flush. But then they find out that it's pure coke and worth hella money. Then tha BIG question is do they try and sell it to get tha money each one needs to make their lives better when they know it will be cooked into crack and sold right back in their hood, or do they do tha right thing and flush it? This is a very interesting story because it's not like many other "young people books" where the plot and characters are very simple. There are many other interesting characters like Kelly who is a 14 year old Korean boy who's dad owns a liquor store, and Jinx who is a crack addict at 13 but who is trying to get clean. I really liked tha descriptions of tha characters in this book. If you have any imagination at all you should be able to see every one of them. This is a very deep book and there are so many other things goin-on plus tha main story that you never know what's going to happen on tha next page. There were many surprises. Some were good and others made me sad or angry. There were other things that made me laugh out loud. Tha ending is another surprise in a lot more ways then one. This is tha kind of book where you think you know what is going to happen but there is always something different instead. I stayed up all night to finish this book and I give it all five stars. I have mostly gone to movies in my life and I didn't like to read a lot before. But this book is like tha best of Boyz n' Tha Hood and Menace 2 Society with a bullet. None of tha characters in here are tha sterotypes you could expect them to be. You could even feel sorry for Air Touch for being a fool and getting caught in tha game. I went on to read tha other books by Jess Mowry and I recommend all of them. Mark Taylor.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a very important book.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Babylon Boyz (Paperback)
I am 13 years old and this was a very important book for me. It was making a discovery that I was not alone and that somebody cared enough to write about my own life and my own world. This is a very real book and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to know what inner city life is like for young people today. I found all of the scenes very real and all of the characters could have been people I know.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book about a group of gifted kids trapped in poverty,
By A Customer
This review is from: Babylon Boyz (Hardcover)
I gave this book 5 stars because Jess Mowry, author, did not forget who his reading audience was and he relied on using all of his knowledge of the ghetto. In the book a lot of slang was used and a lot of situations that only happen to kids in the ghetto. I really liked the book and I hope that Jess Mowry continues with this writing style, because I feel that he has the ability the attract teenagers who would normally not read books. I feel that Dante, Pook, and Wyatt are perfect for the tragedy of being stuck in the ghetto because they don't have the money or any connections to get them out.
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