Chameleon

by Charles R. Smith Jr.

Overview

"Kids will grab this for the immediacy in the scenes, the brutal standoffs, the fast talk at the ball court, and the elemental conflicts of coming-of-age." - Booklist

Shooting the breeze with his boys. Tightening his D on the court. Doing a color check -- making sure nobody's wearing blue or red, which some Crip or Piru carrying a cut-down golf club would see as disrespect. Then back to Auntie's, hoping she isn't passed out from whiskey at the end of the day. Now that Shawn is headed for high school, he wonders if he'd be better off at the school in Mama's neighborhood, where he'd be free of Compton's hassles. But then he wouldn't be with his fellas -- cracking jokes, covering each other's backs -- or the fine Marisol, who's been making star appearances in his dreams. Dad says he needs to make his own decision, but what does Shawn want, freedom or friendship? With teasing, spot-on dialogue and an eye to the realities of inner-city life, Chameleon takes on the shifting moods of a teenager coming of age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763652487
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	06/14/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Lexile:	HL640L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Charles R. Smith Jr. is the author of Hoop Queens and its companion, Hoop Kings, as well as Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, winner of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and a Sugarman Award. He lives in Poughkeepsie, New York.

“Many hours were spent with characters in books traveling the world, solving mysteries, or living in a different time in history,” says photographer and children’s book author Charles R. Smith Jr. of his California childhood. “Reading books filled with stories and poems inspired me to write my own. The more I read, the more I wrote. And if I wasn’t reading a book, I was playing a sport: I played everything, particularly basketball, and spent many afternoons on the court, perfecting my jump shot.”

In high school, Charles R. Smith Jr. found a new love: photography. “Right up until that point I wanted to be an astronaut and walk on the moon, but after taking yearbook pictures nonstop for a year, I knew I wanted to learn how to be a professional photographer.” However, even after graduating from photography school and moving to New York to pursue his dream, Charles R. Smith Jr. did not forget about his childhood pastimes. “I continued with my writing, and, with a heavy influence of rap music, began writing more poetry instead of stories.”

Today, Charles R. Smith Jr. combines his experiences in these three areas—writing, photography, and sports —in his work with children’s books. This fusion is evident in his first book with Candlewick Press, Hoop Queens, a collection of dynamic poems and photographs celebrating twelve female pro-basketball players. Charles R. Smith Jr.’s companion book, Hoop Kings, cheers male professional basketball stars. He is also the author-photographer of Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms, which was selected as an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book.

And for those interested in biography, Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, illustrated by Bryan Collier and named a Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book, follows the three-time heavyweight champ. Of the distinctive niche Charles R. Smith Jr. fills with his books, he notes, “I have combined my photographic skills with my love of reading, writing, and sports to create an exciting career for myself!” For which fans of poetry, photography, and sports are grateful!

Charles R. Smith Jr. lives in New York with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

A teen explores his colors and himself in this snapshot of one summer in the city. Fourteen-year-old Shawn is doing exactly what he wants to do during the summer: shooting hoops and sitting on stoops in Compton. When he's not hanging with his crew, Shawn's watching over his alcoholic aunt, avoiding gang colors and wooing the beautiful Marisol. High-school selection, puberty and social influences are all ahead of Shawn during this transformational summer. Bouncing Shawn's attention between food, friendship, girls and literature, Smith successfully mines the mind of many a teenager. However, his habit of mentioning an issue on one page only to examine it on the next reduces dramatic tension and leaves readers feeling as though the author doubts their ability to comprehend foreshadowing-possibly a holdover from his previous works for younger children. Dual households, first crushes and gang violence receive honest treatment, though Shawn's aunt's drunken hysterical comes across as cheap. Smith's debut into young-adult fiction holds great promise for further transition. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews