I liked that Bryan’s actions have consequences and that the adults are not caricatures but real, mostly caring authority figures, even the father who’s in and out of jail and wants his son to be tough. The teens mostly seem realistic too. BUT there’s a lot of slang that might well be outdated in short order. “mad awkward” “it’s dope” “OD pissed or amped” And Mike and Bryan skip school, throw rocks off the roof, ride the subway without paying, and jump on and ride the outside of the train (train surfing). Mike is a real bully and Bryan puts up with it until he doesn’t any more.

So I very much did enjoy this...until the last chapter. The ending was very abrupt and left a lot of things unresolved. But everything before then was good, so I still give it four stars.

This story about Bryan tore at my heart throughout most of the book. Not wanting to be thought of as “soft” by friends, his sister or father, Bryan makes a lot of bad decisions thanks to a new friend, Mike. I really liked how the book ended as well. All that hype and for what? This is a great book for young readers, especially young men who are struggling to find who they are and not give into peer pressure, even though that can be extremely difficult depending on where you live, how you’re being raised, etc. 4.5 stars for me. #ProjectLIT #weneeddiversebooks

I think this book is great for boys but I think girls could get a good lesson from this as well. I like the fact that it talks about what happens when you meet someone cool but he/she are not the person that you thought he/she would be. It deals with peer pressure and how to handle it and be more aware of your actions and your surroundings. Would definitely recommend.

Sixth-grader Bryan is a good student who has focused on his studies instead of friendships, due to following his mother's advice. She's seen how the wrong friends can lead someone astray, so when she encourages him to befriend Mike, Bryan discovers the joys of friendship. However, Mike doesn't show his true nature to teachers and parents. When he starts pressuring Bryan to activities and behaviors that are unkind or illegal, Bryan has to decide how to respond.

This middle-grade book can help classes or families have conversations about friends and their influences and how to navigate those situations.

Highly recommended for middle grade readers and the adults that love them. This is for the kid who doesn't see themselves in the books they are told to read. This is for the kid who doesn't see characters that talk the way they talk. This is for them to feel and be seen.

actual rating 3.5/5 because it left me hanging.

Many things to enjoy about this book! A fun read that really shows the choices we make as we grow up and decide who we want to be.

*audiobook*
I was looking for something to listen to, and this sounded like a good middle grade read.
This is the story of Brian, who is a good, smart kid but doesn’t necessarily have a large friend group. A boy named Mike walks into the Boys & Girls Club where Brian’s mom works one day, and Brian’s parents push for Brian to become friends with Mike. (Brian’s pa is known for his temper and kind of runs the street corner by the bodega, so he knows Mike from the streets.) They bond over comics right away, and as their relationship grows, Mike starts to push the boundaries a little more and asks Brian to do riskier things with him, like hop turnstiles to subway surf or to skip school. Brian feels conflicted, but Mikems role in his life as a kind of brother takes over. Things eventually get bad enough to when they fight each other, and the book kind of ends on a cliffhanger, with us knowing that Brian is going to talk to Mike the next day and sort things out.
It wasn’t necessarily riveting or anything to me, but I do like audiobooks better when the author reads it themselves, so that was good. I can see a lot of students connecting with a book like this though, and I hope many would follow Brian’s footsteps and be the bigger and better person.

Great book about being true to who you are.