She always talked back to him, and she even thought that he doesn’t care for her when it’s the opposite. What I don’t really like about her is she seems not to care for her dad. She always stands on her opinion as long as she knows she was right about it. She has this strong will and great determination. She has this personality that you’ll find very amusing and very refreshing. She was able to make a decision that will change her stay in South Bay High School. But, everything turned upside down when Eric came into the picture. Even if her friends, Marie and Black Chuck, are members of those gangs, she never thinks of herself joining and becoming one of them. Being able to graduate and go to college is what she only thinks of. Joining one never occurred to her as she is too focused on her study. She is studying in a school where gangs are everywhere. The story revolves around this girl named Julia. When you’re laid up and want to cry but don’t want to bust your stomach open, you have to find some way of venting your feelings” – Julia DiVino
“I don’t know what I would have done without my poetry. I had read it for just one whole day, which is very seldom to happen to me. I never thought that I’d get hooked on this book. The book was addictive, compelling, and full of exciting and intriguing parts. Already have all the, , and, and while they're great, they aren't always cutting it with my students - I think largely because the covers are packaged for literary credit rather than edgy teen appeal. I need to find the books that deal with these issues, that feel edgy, but aren't quite this edgy. The whole incident, and its implications, are so awful and so dark that I don't think I can in good conscience put that in front of 8th graders, even 8th graders who might already have this sort of story as part of their lives, without knowing we'll get to have a serious conversation about it later. He's an absolute gentleman, proposing that they "mess up each other's hair" and pretend. There's a whole discussion about who she'll pick, and then she's sent upstairs with her boyfriend to the dirty room the gang sets aside for this purpose. For instance, at one point Julia learns that girls are inducted to the Crip girl gang by "fucking" a Crip. My students need to see the challenges of their urban lives reflected in books - including gangs, drugs, and pressures to have sex - and they need to have access to books that make them want to read. That said, now that I've read it I don't feel comfortable keeping it in a middle school library. I see why my students wanted me to buy this - it's a page-turner, it's full of drama and excitement, it feels "real." According to her website, Van Diepen didn't grow up around gangs herself, but she taught in Brooklyn and did her research.
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