Todd Strasser writes about a side of life that many people don't get to see, and the struggles and choices of a boy named DeShawn. This book was heartbreaking but surprisingly eye-opening. The ending was sad, but realistic. You can't expect anything different from Todd Strasser. After reading his book "Famous", I wanted to read more of his books. This one proved to be even better than Famous, and I recommend it to everyone. In “If I Grow Up”, Todd Strasser tells about a young boy living with his grandma and his older sister in the Frederick Douglas projects. Todd Strasser usually writes his books largely out of his own experience or remembered feelings, and always with his readers in mind. Besides “If I Grow Up”, Todd Strasser has written many books and won a couple of awards, but for this book specifically he’s won the 2011 Missouri Gateway Readers Award, 2011 North Carolina School Library Media Association Young Adult book Award , and the 2011 Kentucky Bluegrass Master List. When Todd Strasser wrote “If I Grow Up”, he intended to reach out to those kids living in underprivileged areas. Along with the intention of Strasser to reach out to those kids, his title relates quite well to the book overall. To me, “If I Grow Up” sounds like a question that DeShawn might ask. It’s quite relevant to the story of the book. What I mean by this is that he doesn’t know if he’ll live to see tomorrow because of the gang violence that looms around the Frederick Douglass projects. The book also contains several themes. Some of these include hope and discovery, but for the most part were not affective. Todd Strasser also used a unique style when writing this novel. Each chapter was about a year of DeShawn's life. He also included lyric from a rap/hip-hop song. I really liked this because the statistic and lyric fit so well together and you could really see how the lyrics in the rap and hip-hop songs express urban life. When it comes to the main idea of the work, I believe that Strasser wanted to people to realize what life is like in places like the Frederick Douglass Projects. People are not aware, or don’t want to be aware, of what people like DeShawn actually go through. Then people wonder why violence and delinquency is so high. It’s because families are living in poverty and the only way they have any chance of having income is by joining gangs and robbing/stealing. Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel. I don’t usually read this genre of books but it was quite entertaining to read. It kept my interest all the way through. It’s also well written and has clean language for the most part. I really recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about teenagers and urban life.
What do You think about Ghetto Kidz (2000)?
Todd this book was absolutely amazing. i haven't read anything like it in a while.
—SarahNicoleJudy
it was a great book which teaches a lesson towards the end of the book.
—doggypie1234
