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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Takin it to the streets..., October 31, 2006
Have you ever been in love with someone who was totally wrong for you? (It's a rhetorical question, don't think too hard on it.) If you've never experienced the uncertainty that comes with the territory, Walter Dean Myers' new book, Street Love will school you on the do's and don'ts of these emotional waters.
Written entirely in free verse poetics, Street Love is the story of Damien, a 17 year old basketball star who excels in school and seems to have a bright and shining future on the horizon. Enter Junice. Junice is a 16 year old woman trying desperately to keep her life together. While her mother serves out a 25 year sentence for selling drugs, Junice must do everything she can to protect and support herself and her younger sister, Melissa. Living a life of borderline desperation and urgency, Junice certainly has no time for boys. Enter Damien.
Who wants to read a book written as poems? Trust me, you do. This isn't the flowery romanticism of long dead authors (although you would do well to pick them up, too). This lyrical onslaught has a tempo all its own. It is the harmonizing of lovestruck characters set to the rhythm of the street and it's groovy.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, January 23, 2007
Walter Dean Myers has created a captivating tale of new love on the tough streets of New York City. Damien is a smart young man who is going places. He has already been accepted into Brown University and looks toward the future. His parents have sacrificed in order to provide him with a stable, loving, and supportive environment. His mother is diligent when it comes to his life. She doesn't want to him to fall prey to manipulating girls looking for a way out of their meaningless and disappointing lives.
Junice is a tall, beautiful girl with a lot on her plate. Her mother has just been sent to prison for twenty-five years for drug possession and now lives with her forgetful grandmother and younger sister. The responsibility of keeping everyone together falls on Junice. The Department of Human Services has reviewed their situation and found that the grandmother isn't well enough to care for the girls and plans to send them into the system--saying they'll try to keep Junice and her sister, Melissa, together, but that they can't promise anything.
When Damien sees Junice walking down the street one day he becomes entranced. Feelings swell in his chest and he knows he has changed. He is quickly pulled into the chaos that is Junice's life and wants to do whatever he can to help her. Against the wishes of his parents, he continues a relationship with her that takes him down a road -- quite literally -- that he would never have taken if Junice hadn't come into his life.
Walter Dean Myers' use of a hip-hop style combined with the short poems that tie this story together is addictive. The multi-voiced narration gives the reader the perspectives of all of the characters that are involved in this heartbreaking tale. Once you start reading, you'll want to keep going until you find out how Junice and Damien's story ends -- or, we hope, at least the first chapter of a longer story.
Reviewed by: Karin Perry
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From a school librarian's point of view..., June 28, 2008
This review is from: Street Love (Paperback)
Street Love is an outstanding book for any student to read. Though this book is based on the inner city life and love, I feel any child would benefit from reading this book. Actually, if I were an English teacher, I would have students read and study this book after reading Shakespeare. Students would have an easier time breaking down the poetry and symbols in this book over Shakespeare and really enjoy it more. It could almost be seen as a reward reading for doing Shakespeare. I think we have finally found Shakespeare from an African American/Urban/Hip Hop point of view. Below, are the focus groups I would recommend to read this book:
- Any student(Though this book may focus on African American life, this book was written for everyone to explore the inner-city African American culture.)
-Inner-city teens
-Students reading/studying Shakespeare
-Basketball playing teens
-Teens who parents and/or family members have recently been locked up in jail or prison.
-Teens in a foster home situation
-Teens who like/love poetry
-Home-schooled students
-Anybody!(An adult, just like me.)
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