Dope Sick [Hardcover]

Walter Dean Myers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2009

The itch starts when things get too heavy for Lil J. Skin popping or stealing pain pills from his mom help him relax. But Lil J's focus is wandering because money is short, and his man Rico knows a way to make some quick cash. It's supposed to be an easy deal, but it isn't so simple when the buyer is an undercover cop.

With a gunshot wound to the arm, Rico in jail, and a police officer clinging to life, Lil J is starting to get dope sick. He'd do anything to change the last twenty-four hours, and when he stumbles into an abandoned crack house, it actually might be possible. . . .

Walter Dean Myers weaves elements of magical realism into a harrowing story about drug use, violence, alternate perceptions of reality, and second chances.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Using both harsh realism and a dose of the fantastic, Myers (Game) introduces an inner-city teen in the jaws of a crisis: 17-year-old Lil J is holed up in an abandoned building, believed to have shot an undercover cop in a drug bust, while police officers assemble in the street below. As he searches for a way out, Lil J is stopped by Kelly, an eerily calm vagrant who invites him to cop a squat and check yourself out on the tube. Kelly's TV not only plays scenes from Lil J's life but projects what will happen if he sticks with his current plan: suicide. Shocked, Lil J considers Kelly's question, If you could take back one thing you did... what would it be? Aided by Kelly's TV, Lil J revisits pivotal moments and wrestles with his fate. As expected, Myers uses street-style lingo to cover Lil J's sorry history of drug use, jail time, irresponsible fatherhood and his own childhood grief. A didn't-see-that-coming ending wraps up the story on a note of well-earned hope and will leave readers with plenty to think about. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Pursued by police after a drug deal goes disastrously wrong, 17-year-old Lil J hides out in an abandoned building where he encounters a strange, solitary man named Kelly, who is watching television. Stranger still is what Kelly is watching: scenes from Lil J’s past and his prospective future! How can this be? And how to answer the question that Kelly then asks: “If you could do it all over again and change something, what would it be?” As Lil J ponders his answer, Kelly screens more scenes from the teen’s unfortunate life, including his growing heroin habit. Is this a drug-induced hallucination? A ghostly visitation à la Dickens’ Scrooge? A metaphysical fantasy? A cautionary tale? All of the above? Wisely, Myers provides no easy answers to these difficult questions, trusting his readers to find their own truths and lessons in Lil J’s life. Yes, “lessons,” for there is definitely a didactic element here. But, happily, Myers’ narrative strategy is so inherently dramatic that it captures his readers’ attentions and imaginations, inviting not only empathy but also thoughtful discussion. Grades 9-12. --Michael Cart

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Amistad (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061214779
• ISBN-13: 978-0061214776
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Walter Dean Myers is a New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author who has garnered much respect and admiration for his fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people. Winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, he is considered one of the preeminent writers for children. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great journey, unsatisfying destination, January 10, 2010

By 

M. Knapp "Maggie Knapp" (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dope Sick (Hardcover)

Walter Dean Myers' DOPE SICK does an excellent job of drawing you into Lil J's dangerous and disjointed world of punk dope dealers in New York City. The language, while harsh, isn't so crude as to be off-putting (or incomprehensible) to this suburban white reader and the characters are multi-faceted and intriguing. I even had sympathy for Lil J himself, as he (with the help of Kelly and his magical fast forward/rewind remote control) gets a look at decisions he has made in the past (and perhaps will make in the future.)

An intriguing and fast read. I subtracted one star for an ending that is without any sort of closure (for me at least.) After reading the final paragraphs, I had no sense of what Myers was trying to say, show or tell as far as Lil J and the decisions he must now make.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, February 10, 2009

By 

Theoden Humphrey "Dusty" (Oregon, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dope Sick (Hardcover)

I was privileged to read an advance copy of Walter Dean Myers' new book Dope Sick, and let me say, simply: this is a good book. It was nicely crafted for its intended audience, well-written, intriguing and thought-provoking without being too preachy or overly complex. It had a science fiction flair in a realistic story, and I love when authors do that well. The main character, Lil J, was perfectly rendered, and his narrator's voice seemed spot on to me, though I admit some ignorance as to popular street slang of today -- I live in a small town in Oregon, which is not exactly the 'hood. I know that it sounded genuine to my dull ears, and I think it would seem the same to young men who read the book, so I will be recommending this book to them.

The story was interesting, though I know the ending will not satisfy many readers -- the lady or the tiger? I thought it was great, since the book's theme is how hard it is to pinpoint the moment when things start to go wrong in one's life. The story picks up as Lil J is running from the police, having been involved in a drug deal that went bad and ended up with the shooting of an undercover cop; J (whose full name is Jeremy Dance, and that name almost gave me goosebumps, it was so good) runs into a building that seems abandoned but isn't. On an upper story, J finds a mysterious figure named Kelly, watching TV. This TV can show J's life, past, present, and possible future, and Kelly shows J exactly where he is headed and what awaits him there -- and J doesn't like what he sees.

The rest of the book is a series of flashbacks, laced into J's conversation with Kelly, which (very nicely) never loses sight of J's current situation and its seriousness, as the police are searching for J and he is already being tried and convicted by the popular media. Through the flashbacks, we see what has happened to J to make him the way he is, as Kelly keeps asking him what he would like to change about his life, what single event or single day he would like to change in order to get out of the situation he finds himself in now. And several possibilities occur to J, and are described as he and Kelly watch them on the strange TV; most of them seem reasonable choices for the turning point, the watershed moment when everything started to go wrong, and the overall impression the reader gets is sadness -- because a lot in this young man's life has gone wrong. But the climax of the book comes, I think, when J tells Kelly, "Everything that's me ain't all my fault," and Kelly responds, "That's the deal. You got to find a way to make your life all your fault." That, I thought, was a brilliant line, and a brilliant message very well realized in this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dopesick by Walter Dean Myers, October 17, 2010

By 

Lynn M. Dixon (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dope Sick (Hardcover)

I read this book in one sitting. It was an easy read even though it had a lot of dark shadows. It was a request from one of my 8th grade boys, so I wanted to read it before I put on our library shelf. I was a little shocked that the main character was involved with heavy drugs at such an early age. The main character finds himself in a vacant building and encouters someone he does not know. This encounter is a bit strange. However, as in most of Myer's books, he is forced to look inside himself and make better choices after a very scary night. Dopesick could open up a great discussion among young adult readers!