Gangs and Drugs (Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence)
Gr. 3^-5, with an adult discussion leader. Who better to give advice on a subject than someone who's "been there" ? That's the idea behind the Tookie Speaks Out against Gang Violence series, coauthored by Stanley "Tookie" Williams, cofounder of the notorious gang Crips and currently in residence in San Quentin State Prison. Because kids may recognize Tookie, whose face has been plastered across the pages of a host of popular magazines and newspapers in conjunction with the publication of this eight-book series, he may, in fact, be a good messenger. Certainly, there is a crying need for books about the dangers of drugs and gangs for this age level, but the books that this title represents don't entirely fill the bill. The series has some visual appeal: photos in full color feature a racially mixed roundup of children and teenagers meant to attract both reluctant YA and younger readers. As an additional draw, Tookie's face appears somewhere in every book: as a teen in his south-central L.A. neighborhood, as a child dressed in a suit and tie, as a handcuffed prisoner staring directly out at the reader. There is even a self-portrait. And the books do broach a lot of gang-related concerns--from the way gangs affect self-esteem to gang violence and drug use. But although each book in the series purports to tackle a different aspect of gang involvement, there is a lot of repetition. In fact, the series might easily have been cut in half without compromising content. Simplistic statements constantly jump out ("The people you hurt will someday hurt you"), and the introduction of some valuable terminology (mobbing, set-tripping, gangbanging, etc.) is compromised by intrusive and arbitrary pronunciation guides. Facts about Tookie's life are intriguing, but they are too few to balance the preachy text, and Tookie's presentation as a tragic figure of sorts is troubling. He may well have "learned his lesson," but because we never find out much about what actually brought him to death row, we are denied some of the most telling facts of all.Stephanie Zvirin--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.