Publishers Weekly
This hard-hitting and lyrical novel opens with the apparent hanging of Jimmi Sixes, a disturbed 18-year-old veteran and street poet/junkie, back in the Bronx after his discharge from the army; the story then retraces the preceding month’s events. Stubborn 15-year-old Tamika (aka Mik), who lives in the projects called the Orange Houses, is hearing-impaired but often prefers to turn off her hearing aids and text message rather than speak. Jimmi introduces her to Fatima, an illegal refugee who has just arrived from Africa (“Her pinky and ring finger were gone. If she held up the hand, say to block a machete blade, the angle of the slash through her palm would match that of the slash crossing her cheek”), and a friendship blossoms. Fatima and Jimmi try to protect Mik from a box-cutter-wielding girl and her posse, but Jimmi ends up caught by a vigilante group. Griffin’s (Ten Mile River) prose is gorgeous and resonant, and he packs the slim novel with defeats, triumphs, rare moments of beauty and a cast of credible, skillfully drawn characters. A moving story of friendship and hope under harsh conditions. Ages 14–up. (June)
Booklist
[Readers] will . . . be floored by some of the turns in this swift, tense, and powerful book., starred review
School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up
Consumed with fitting in, 15-year-old Tamika tries to cover her hearing aids with her hair. She wants to be pretty and secretly dreams of being liked by her friend Jimmi, an 18-year-old war veteran who's been severely damaged by his experiences, turned to drugs, and cast out by society. But things don't seem to be going her way and Tamika copes by turning off her aids and shutting out the world. This angers her mother who is working two jobs to earn enough to pay for her daughter's auditory surgery. Tamika isn't sure she wants to hear again, until she meets and befriends Fatima, a vibrant illegal immigrant from Africa who comes to her Bronx neighborhood. Filled with uncertainty, identity confusion, and fear, the three teens form a friendship. Still, they are continually socially and physically abused by gangs and one day the threats go too far, Jimmi is almost killed, and immigration deports Fatima. Tamika survives to move on, with her mother's help. Griffin serves up hard-hitting descriptions of urban life and reflective street dialogue. This poetic, yet sometimes cryptic read is about being smart, resilient, and humane in an often-unforgiving world.-Kimberly Monaghan, formerly at Vernon Area Public Library, IL
Kirkus Reviews
Three unlikely friends struggle to survive poverty's vicious cycle in the Bronx. Sexy, streetwise Mik, who has a minor hearing disability, pines after gorgeous, blitzed-out ex-soldier and artist Jimmi. The two meet the caring, illegal teen-refugee Fatima as she searches for citizenship, work and the Statue of Liberty. With their story, Griffin raises many questions about immigration laws, the education system, crime and racism. He draws appealingly believable characterizations that urban teens will both recognize and admire: Mik and her friends talk the talk and walk the walk. His plotting, however, though action-driven, has many oddly placed gaps that require lots of reading between the lines and result in a jumpy and hard-to-follow narrative. The pace picks up toward the end, though, as the three friends' lives are at stake in a near-horrific climax that involves a gun, box-cutter-wielding girls and a hanging. A deceivingly slim volume with a slow start that leads to a breathless finish. (Fiction. YA)
