Gangs and Violence (Williams, Stanley. Tookie Speaks Out Against Gangs.) (Hardcover)

by Stanley Tookie Williams (Author), Barbara Cottman Becnel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Tookie learned the hard way that belonging to a gang is not smart. I salute him for his courage and determination to overcome his circumstances. --Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
A founder of the Crips in Los Angeles introduces kids to the dangers of belonging to a gang.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: PowerKids Press; 1st edition (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823923452
• ISBN-13: 978-0823923458
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,744,359 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book is great, January 13, 2006

By	bryan mcdonald "loving dad" (San Francisco Bay USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My second grader just read this book to me. I think the book teaches many excellent lessons about why gangs and violence are not good. There are valuable examples any caring parent would appreciate teaching a child. Tookie writes that he made many mistakes growing up and wishes he could undo many of them. He regrets he ever founded the Crips and admits he was bully. I recommend this book to any parent who'd like to keep his/her child out of gangs or using violence as a solution.

30 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I disagree. I find it accurate and worthwhile., March 15, 2005

By	Matthew Atkinson "Mental health therapist" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I also work with high-risk youth, and I purchased a complete set of Tookie's books. At first I was surprised that the book are written in such an elementary style--very simple and direct. I was afraid that the young people who would read them might feel "talked down to." But it hasn't been that way at all--they have found the books perfectly reasonable, often *because* they lack the educational skill to process a more complex treatment, to be honest. The books do not stereotype gang members (and since when would "too many negative stereotypes" be a bad thing? Should we give teens a book that offers POSITIVE stereotypes of gangs? Teens already get PLENTY of that from gangsta media). Tookie describes the mentality that makes a gang attractive, why power and control are so alluring, and how he has learned to overcome the seduction of aggressive power.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Intervention, October 12, 2006

By	Patricia A. Thurston "pthursto" (San Rafael, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It seems that the so-called reviewers in this space are not real reviewers but people who want to condemn the man who's already condemned for his violent past. He has paid the price. He's dead. Tookie sought redemption and part of that was to keep others from entering the life of gangs. This book and others he wrote talk to kids before they enter gang life. They are heartfelt and come from the mind and heart of one who lived it, who knew it as the rest of us never could.

Tookie finally got over his own anger. He knew what he did, and he tried to do things to help others. The books are part of that.