Skip to content

If I Grow Up

by Todd Strasser

Cover of If I Grow Up
Popularity 26

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?

FictionInner citiesGangsViolencePovertyAfrican AmericansGang membersChildren's fictionViolence, fictionPoverty, fictionAfrican americans, fictionGangs, fiction
If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser — book · Vinony