Sharon G. Flake has an international reputation as a top author for children and young adults. Her breakout novel, The Skin I'm In, established her as a must-read author among middle and high school students, parents, and educators. She has spoken to more than two hundred thousand young people, and hugged nearly as many. Flake has penned nine novels, numerous short stories, plays, and a picture book entitled You Are Not a Cat.
Her work has received numerous awards, such as the Coretta Scott King Honor award and the YWCA Racial Justice Award, and her books have been named to many prestigious lists, including Kirkus Review's Top Ten Books of the Year, Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association, Top Ten Books for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library, Top Twenty Recommended Books to Read by the Texas Library Association, 100 Books Every Teenage Girl Should Read, and Booklist Editor's Choice, among others. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, go to sharonflake.com, or follow her on Twitter @sharonflake.
"Gripping and troubling, Flake paints a provocative picture of
teens struggling to deal with a world that is out of control and
without adults capable of providing help. Powerful--and
disturbing."--Kirkus Reviews
"In a contemporary, hard-hitting survival tale set in a
neighborhood where people get shot "for no real reason," Flake (The
Skin I'm In ) follows an African-American boy's harrowing
initiation into manhood."--Publishers Weekly
Gr 8 Up-Even though random shootings have become increasingly common in his neighborhood, Mann is horrified when his little brother is gunned down while playing on his own front porch. Two years later, the 13-year-old and his parents are still struggling with their grief. His father believes that if he had been less loving and protective, Jason might have been tougher and capable of avoiding the shot. Mann and his friend Kee-lee keep track of the shooting deaths around them, certain that their own time may come and make them nothing more than numbers on their list. Influenced by ancient African coming-of-age rituals in which young boys are sent into the wilderness to attempt to survive, Mann's father takes him and Kee-lee camping and abandons them far from home. For two urban teens with little food or money, this is a dangerous, frightening experience that leads to crime and violence. After the boys make their treacherous way back home, Mann's father turns him out to live on the streets, determined he will not lose another son because he is too "soft." This disturbing, thought-provoking novel will leave readers with plenty of food for thought and should fuel lively discussions.-Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
"Gripping and troubling, Flake paints a provocative picture of
teens struggling to deal with a world that is out of control and
without adults capable of providing help. Powerful--and
disturbing."--Kirkus Reviews
"In a contemporary, hard-hitting survival tale set in a
neighborhood where people get shot "for no real reason," Flake
(The Skin I'm In ) follows an African-American boy's
harrowing initiation into manhood."--Publishers Weekly
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