Homeboyz (Hoopster) [Hardcover]

Alan Lawrence Sitomer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hoopster | Publication Date: April 2, 2007

When Teddy Anderson’s little sister Tina is gunned down randomly in a drive-by shooting, the gangstas who rule the streets in the Anderson family’s rapidly deteriorating neighborhood dismiss the incident as just another case of RP, RT—wrong place, wrong time. According to gangsta logic, Tina doesn’t even count as a statistic.
Teddy’s family is devastated. Mrs. Anderson sinks into deep depression while Pops struggles to run both the household and his declining laundry business. The Andersons are shocked still further when Teddy is arrested and thrown in prison for attempted homicide after his elaborately laid plans for revenge against his sister’s killer are foiled by the cops.
Teddy soon finds himself out of prison on house arrest, and in the capable hands of Officer Mariana Diaz, the smart, tough probation officer assigned to oversee his endless hours of community service. As part of the innovative rehabilitation program Diaz runs, Teddy is assigned to tutor Micah, a twelve-year-old orphan and would-be gansta.
As Teddy goes through the motions of complying with the terms of his probation, Diaz has no idea that he is using his genius-level computer hacker skills to plot his final vengeance and to defraud the state education system of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But even though Teddy thinks he knows it all, he fails to see how Micah’s desperate need for love and trust just might have the power not only to pierce all Teddy’s defenses, but to save his family.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In this decidedly unsubtle sequel to Hip-Hop High School (Hyperion, 2006), sullen computer wiz Teddy sets out for revenge after gangbangers gun down his sister, Tina, in a drive-by shooting. After an up close encounter with the horrors of California's juvenile justice system in the wake of a failed first try, he's sentenced to a mentoring program for at-risk youth that forcibly hooks him up with hot but hard-nosed parole officer Mariana and wild, foulmouthed preteen Micah. Sitomer frequently breaks away from the story for clunky minilectures: "The lack of money, Teddy knew, kept thousands and thousands of inner-city kids like Micah from getting the educational services they needed." And Micah's instant reform is just one of several strands of blatant wish-fulfillment. Still, the tale's violent, rough-hewn plot and street-inflected language supply sufficient intensity to carry the heavy agenda. By the end, Teddy is no more likeable, but at least he's slightly more socialized. Peters, John

About the Author

Alan Lawrence Sitomer is California's 2007 Teacher of the Year. In addition to being an inner-city high school English teacher and professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University, Mr. Sitomer is a nationally renowned speaker specializing in engaging reluctant readers, who received the 2004 award for Classroom Excellence from the Southern California Teachers of English and the 2003 Teacher of the Year honor from California Literacy. His young adult trilogy of novels began with The Hoopster and Hip-Hop High School and concluded with Homeboyz. Alan is also the author of Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics, a text used in classrooms across the United States to engage disengaged students.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Jump At The Sun (April 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423100301
• ISBN-13: 978-1423100300
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Lawrence Sitomer is California's 2007 Teacher of the Year. In addition to being an inner-city high school English teacher and former professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University, Mr. Sitomer is a nationally renowned speaker specializing in engaging reluctant readers who received the 2004 award for Classroom Excellence from the Southern California Teachers of English and the 2003 Teacher of the Year honor from California Literacy. In April 2007, Alan was named Educator of the Year by Loyola Marymount University and in February 2008 The Insight Education Group named Alan Lawrence Sitomer the Innovative Educator of the Year.

Mr. Sitomer has also authored four young adult novels published by Disney, which include The Hoopster, Hip-Hop High School, Homeboyz and The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez.

The American Library Association named Homeboyz a Top Ten Book of the Year 2008, receiving the prestigious ALA Quick Pick Recognition for young adult novel which best engages reluctant readers. The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez was also been nominated for the same award.

Alan is the author of Hip-Hop Poetry & the Classics, a text being used in classrooms across the United States to illuminate classic poetry through hip-hop in order to engage disengaged students in both poetry and academics.

Additionally, Mr. Sitomer has just written a teacher's methodology book for Scholastic titled Teaching Teens & Reaping Results: In a Wi-Fi, Hip-Hop, Where-Has-All-The-Sanity-Gone World.

Most recently, Mr. Sitomer has authored The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

BookJams have been designed to nail core language arts standards, raise test scores, and return teachers to a position of strength. By bringing real books back into the classroom through a student-centric approach to learning in order to achieve core curriculum objectives, teachers can utilize all the tools Alan utilizes in his own classroom each and every day. BookJams are literally "straight out of Alan's private filing cabinet" and include a host of core, standards-based activities and lesson plans as well as a dynamic spectrum of 21st-century, hands-on learning projects. Intelligent grading rubrics, differentiated assessments and award-winning literature are all included.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teacher Recommendation, March 5, 2008

By 

L. Mueller "Middle School Teacher" (Commerce City, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homeboyz (Hoopster) (Hardcover)

I am a middle school reading teacher who has purchased 7 copies of this book and have a list of 50 students still waiting to read it. Students who hate reading or have never finished a book can't seem to put it down. It is, by far, my best book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warriors of the street, May 14, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Homeboyz (Hoopster) (Hardcover)

If I had to recommnd a book this would be one of the first book I would tell about.This book was a complete page turner, I would alawys try to find more time to read. If anyone read this book and called it boring I would be astonished because of the fact that I enjoyed this book so much.The plot of this book was really believable. I thought this because I hear about gang related murders and what they do to families on the news all the time

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, March 12, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homeboyz (Hoopster) (Hardcover)

Teddy Anderson is out for revenge. His little sister, Tina, was the victim of a drive-by, gang-related shooting. Her death is explained with the gang label RP, RT -- wrong place, wrong time.

Big brother Andre and older sister Tee-Ay are both away at college. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are both grieving the death of their youngest child in their own separate ways. That leaves Teddy to deal with his emotions in the only way he knows how. He turns to the same violence that cut short his little sister's life.

Arrested for attempted murder, Teddy finds himself in the court system. Surprisingly, he is released to his parents, but the deal involves house arrest, wearing an ankle bracelet, and doing community service for some probation officer with a government-funded program to reform gang members. Teddy reports to Officer Diaz and meets Micah, a twelve-year-old gangsta' wannabe.

The arrangement is for Teddy to work with Micah -- help him with his homework, talk to him about his problems, and generally bond with him so he'll stay off the streets and out of trouble. Teddy is no slouch. He puts in his community service time, but also uses his considerable intelligence and computer skills to hack into the court system to further his plans for revenge.

HOMEBOYZ is the final book in the Anderson family trilogy by Alan Lawrence Sitomer. He brings the dangerous and deadly side of gang violence to life, and at the same time reveals the emotional and touching relationship that develops between Teddy and young Micah. Readers who enjoyed The Hoopster and Hip-Hop High School (Hoopster) will be pleased with this final book. It also works well as a stand-alone for those not familiar with Sitomer's other books.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"