Fast Talk on a Slow Track [Paperback]

Rita Williams-Garcia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1998 | Age Level: 2 and up

Denzel Watson is a fast talker with a system, and it's made him valedictorian. But when he goes to a summer program at Princeton, he takes a fall. How can he tell his proud family that he won't be able to cut it in the Ivy League? Instead, he spends the rest of the summer selling candy, up against "Top Man" Mello, a drop-out with a police record. For the first time, Denzel is forced to take a hard look at himself -- and how much further he could fall. "Williams-Garcia confronts some crucial issues that are generally ignored in YA fiction: issues of class and race, friendship and competition, identity and failure." -- Booklist "Teens everywhere will be able to identify and commiserate with Denzel." School Library Journal, starred review

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Valedictorian of his high school, ambitious Denzel flounders in a summer session for minority students at Princeton in this "powerfully written, introspective novel," said PW. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9-12-- An unusual, affecting book, told from the point of view of a black teenager. Success has always come easily to Denzel Watson and, for the first time in his life, he must come to terms with the spector of failure. He graduates from high school with a 98% grade point average, as president and valedictorian of his class, with plans to enter Princeton in the fall. While at Princeton as part of a six-week minority candidate summer program, Denzel continues to wing it through his classes as he had done throughout his school career. It does not work. The son of a middle-class family who participated in and remember the civil rights movements of the 1960s and who have strong feelings of racial identity and pride, Denzel is not supposed to fail. He returns home and spends the rest of the summer selling candy door to door with dropouts and losers who have no other options in life. He decides he will attend the local college in the fall rather than Princeton, but lacks the courage to tell his parents. Denzel's coming to terms with the possibility of failure, as well as his attitudes and eventual confrontation with his family, makes a novel that is very hard to put down. The characterizations are outstanding. Williams-Garcia has aptly captured the feelings of young people in the throes of growing away from their families enough to make their own decisions. The language is colorful and vibrant--these kids sound like students in many high school hallways. Teens everywhere will be able to identify and commiserate with Denzel as he goes through his options, gains confidence, and matures.
- Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141302313
• ISBN-13: 978-0141302317
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,259,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok, April 22, 2005

By 

A. Lundquist - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fast Talk on a Slow Track (Paperback)

The book is about Denzel, an African-American high school senior in Brooklyn, NY. Denzel gets accepted to Princeton and goes for a six-week course in the summer for students who have a lot of potential but who may need some help to be able to compete with students from more privileged backgrounds. Denzel finds he can't slide through the program like he slid through high school which causes him to reconsider his future.

This book deals very honestly with issues such as racism and class. I enjoyed the fact that the book takes place in Brooklyn, NY because I spent this past summer there and really loved my time there. I did not like this book much because I thought that Denzel was too cocky and cold-hearted. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to kids or not-maybe to kids that are similar to Denzel and come from a similar background. It may also be valuable to show kids from the Midwest and the suburbs what life is like for a minority from an urban background.

4.0 out of 5 stars Williams-Garcia Always Delivers, September 11, 2009

By 

Edith A. Campbell "crazyquilter" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fast Talk on a Slow Track (Paperback)

While a casual reference to the World Trade Center and the lack of cell phones and email somewhat dates this story, the pressures upon young men to succeed at school, with girls, for their families and to each other does not. As the story begins, it is difficult to like Denzel Watson. While he is an intelligent young man, he's stupid and immature, thinking the entire world revolves around him. He spends time in a summer program at Princeton so that he can be prepared for the rigors he will face when school begins in the fall. Denzel doesn't think he needs this program, thinks he can float through classes like he did in high school. He was valedictorian at a poorly performing school. When he realizes he's not quite intellectually as impressive as he thought, he becomes gripped with fear and doesn't think he will succeed at all. He decides to give up and must decide how to tell his father this; his father who thrived during the era of the Black Power movement and who has so much faith in his son. Some compassion builds for Denzel when we see the roles he is pressured into playing for his father and mother. I don't know that I ever grew to really like Denzel, but I did hope that he would achieve success. Denzel matures enough to realize how little he really knows, and how much he needs to know.

Garcia-Williams writes a compelling coming of age story that reminds us how difficult life can be for young men of color, even in an age where barriers are beginning to blur. While we are present in Denzel's thoughts, Garcia touches on many issues such as inequity in education, male/female relationships and family expectations in a manner that leaders to thought and discussion. One of the strengths of the story is the way issues are presented for consideration rather than in a heavy handed, preaching manner. Following Denzel through this summer of growth can give the reader much to consider!

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast Talk on a Slow Track, December 20, 2001

By 

Tasha Strickland (Xenia ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast Talk on a Slow Track (Paperback)

I beleive that this book is an average book. Many people really would enjoy this book if they like hearing about other peoples problems.