Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com
Lil J is running away from his problems. His alcoholic mother can't seem to get straight, he can't find a decent job, and now the cops are breathing down his neck. A drug deal has gone sour, and Lil J finds himself holed up in an abandoned crack house, wounded and afraid.
He meets Kelly, a young man who asks a lot of questions and wields a television remote control. The entire situation doesn't make sense to Lil J, and things really start getting crazy when Kelly begins to play segments of Lil J's life on the TV screen.
"If you could do it all over again, and change something, what would it be?," Kelly asks Lil J.
Lil J sifts through his memories, attempting to pinpoint the moment in his life that changed him forever. Many secrets are unearthed and Lil J comes to the realization that it wasn't just one thing; it was all the little things that added up and multiplied into this mess he calls his life.
Lil J is searching for redemption, but can he find it in time - and does he even deserve it?
Walter Dean Myers is a masterful storyteller who takes ideas about urban life and morphs them into something that is truly original and unexpected. His ability to use surrealism in a very real, life-altering situation shows that you can make a point without shoving it in your face.
DOPE SICK is an excellent piece of writing that will keep you questioning until the end.......and after.
Lil J is running away from his problems. His alcoholic mother can't seem to get straight, he can't find a decent job, and now the cops are breathing down his neck. A drug deal has gone sour, and Lil J finds himself holed up in an abandoned crack house, wounded and afraid.
He meets Kelly, a young man who asks a lot of questions and wields a television remote control. The entire situation doesn't make sense to Lil J, and things really start getting crazy when Kelly begins to play segments of Lil J's life on the TV screen.
"If you could do it all over again, and change something, what would it be?," Kelly asks Lil J.
Lil J sifts through his memories, attempting to pinpoint the moment in his life that changed him forever. Many secrets are unearthed and Lil J comes to the realization that it wasn't just one thing; it was all the little things that added up and multiplied into this mess he calls his life.
Lil J is searching for redemption, but can he find it in time - and does he even deserve it?
Walter Dean Myers is a masterful storyteller who takes ideas about urban life and morphs them into something that is truly original and unexpected. His ability to use surrealism in a very real, life-altering situation shows that you can make a point without shoving it in your face.
DOPE SICK is an excellent piece of writing that will keep you questioning until the end.......and after.
