Street Love

by Walter Dean Myers Narrated by Corey Allen, Carra Patterson, Karen Chilton, Korey Jackson

Overview

Your first love is totally wrong for you. Do you follow your heart? Or do you run away? Junice What am I doing? He'll take one quick look And wish he was anywhere else but here I'm already ashamed of what I think He will think of me, of the life I lead Damien Yes, she is the fruit that will Sustain me and yes, she brings A rain that I know can chill But it is a rain so sweet and sings A song my soul insists That I follow, if I would exist As more than I have ever, ever been If my mother calls it evil, then I embrace the sin

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Adult and young-adult aficionados of Myers's work will find this new offering revisits issues close to the author's heart: place (Harlem with all its love and squalor), race and the court system (you've got trouble if you're black and poor and in front of a judge), values for boys of color (street crime or achievement) and love of the community. This verse novel, in which entire poems dazzle readers with rhyme and rhythm and voice, finds Damien, a straight-A student, headed for Brown University. But he falls in love with Junice, a girl whose mother has just been incarcerated for selling drugs, and his direction could change. Readers enjoy multiple perspectives on this romance and the decision Damien makes. A cliffhanger conclusion might give some diehard fans the need to reflect and accept the unexpected. This quasi-Romeo and Juliet will easily find its place alongside Sharon Mills Draper's Romiette and Julio (1999), Myers's short story, "Kitty and Mack: a Love Story," West Side Story and of course, the Shakespearean play itself. (Fiction. YA)

From the Publisher

"Adult and young-adult aficionados of Myers’s work will find this new offering revisits issues close to the author’s heart: place, race and the court system , values for boys of color, and love of the community. This verse novel, in which entire poems dazzle readers with rhyme and rhythm and voice, finds Damien, a straight-A student, headed for Brown University. But he falls in love with Junice, a girl whose mother has just been incarcerated for selling drugs, and his direction could change. Readers enjoy multiple perspectives on this romance and the decision Damien makes." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The realistic drama on the street and at home tells a gripping story. Readers will want to reread the lines they loved.” — Booklist (starred review)

“This deeply felt, poignant story is told in deft strokes, with memorable language. Both male and female YAs will be able to relate. The tale’s brevity and evocation of strong emotions will give it appeal to reluctant readers as well.” — KLIATT (starred review)

"Myers's compellingly readable novel in verse unfolds through an array of characters,  all linked by Damien Battle and Junice Ambers—who both live in Harlem but come from very different worlds." — Publishers Weekly

"The swift flow of these short poems carries readers along in thoughts, conversations, and scenes as Damien and Junice’s romance begins. Hip-hop style phrases feel like Shakespeare telling of these African-American teens in Harlem, struggling to keep it together. Intellect meets Street as true love conquers all. This is a quick and satisfying read, simple and timeless." — School Library Journal

"The lovers' fate will undoubtedly spark lively and thoughtful discussion." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"The novel transforms the Romeo and Juliet story into an episode from the here and now. The novel's format allows the reader to peer directly into the thoughts and feelings of the main characters. Hip-hop fans, readers of poetry, and hopeless romantics will respond to the emotional vibrancy of this powerful work." — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“The beauty of this Romeo and Juliet…a story of blind hope and pure young love (possible, here, even for the bruised and jaded).” — Horn Book Magazine

Booklist (starred review)

The realistic drama on the street and at home tells a gripping story. Readers will want to reread the lines they loved.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"The lovers' fate will undoubtedly spark lively and thoughtful discussion."

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

"The novel transforms the Romeo and Juliet story into an episode from the here and now. The novel's format allows the reader to peer directly into the thoughts and feelings of the main characters. Hip-hop fans, readers of poetry, and hopeless romantics will respond to the emotional vibrancy of this powerful work."

Horn Book Magazine

The beauty of this Romeo and Juliet…a story of blind hope and pure young love (possible, here, even for the bruised and jaded).

KLIATT (starred review)

This deeply felt, poignant story is told in deft strokes, with memorable language. Both male and female YAs will be able to relate. The tale’s brevity and evocation of strong emotions will give it appeal to reluctant readers as well.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The lovers' fate will undoubtedly spark lively and thoughtful discussion."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172572654
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Street Love

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By Walter Myers

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2006 Walter Myers
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0060280794

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Harlem

Autumn in Harlem.
Fume-choked leaves, already
Yellowed, crack in the late September
Breeze. Weeds, city tough, city brittle,
Push defiantly along the concrete edges
Of Malcolm X Boulevard. On 137th Street
A toothless sidewalk vendor neatly stacks
His dark knit caps beside the plastic cell
Phone covers. Shadows indistinct in August heat
Now deepen and grow long across
The wide streets. Homeless men sniff the air and
Know that somewhere the Hawk stirs.
Harlem is not an easy place
To grow old, and so the young
Are everywhere,
Pouring from the buses, city dancing
To the rhythms of the street,
City dancing to the frantic spin of life
In the fast lane.

Continues...

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Excerpted from Street Love by Walter Myers Copyright © 2006 by Walter Myers. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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