Give a Boy a Gun

No Place

How I Created My Perfect Prom Date

Home Alone (TV and Film Tie-ins)

Please Don't Be Mine, Julie Valentine (Hippo)

The Good War

13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen

The Diving Bell

"WHEN YOU GREW UP IN THE PROJECTS, THERE WERE NO CHOICES. NO GOOD ONES, AT LEAST."

In the Frederick Douglass Project where DeShawn lives, daily life is ruled by drugs and gang violence. Many teenagers drop out of school and join gangs, and every kid knows someone who died. Gunshots ring out on a regular basis.

DeShawn is smart enough to know he should stay in school and keep away from the gangs. But while his friends have drug money to buy fancy sneakers and big-screen TVs, DeShawn's family can barely afford food for the month. How can he stick to his principles when his family is hungry?

In this gritty novel about growing up in the inner city, award-winning author Todd Strasser opens a window into the life of a teenager struggling with right and wrong under the ever-present shadow of gangs.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Give a Boy a Gun

Todd Strasser, 2000

No Place

Todd Strasser, 2014

How I Created My Perfect Prom Date

Todd Strasser, 1996

Home Alone (TV and Film Tie-ins)

Todd Strasser, Todd Strassner, 1990

Please Don't Be Mine, Julie Valentine (Hippo)

Todd Strasser, 1995

The Good War

Todd Strasser, 2021

13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen

James Howe, Todd Strasser, Bruce Coville, 2003

The Diving Bell

Todd Strasser, 1992