You Don't Even Know Me: Stories and Poems About Boys - Hardcover

Sharon G. Flake (www.sharongflake.com) won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for her first novel,The Skin I'm In, and is a two-time Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book winner. She is the author of a middle grade novel and five books for young adults, including the companion to this book:Who Am I Without Him? Short Stories About Girls and the Boys in Their Lives. Sharon lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Grade 8 Up—Ten portraits interspersed with poetry draw readers into the lives of a variety of African-American teens. In "Getting Even," a boy copes with his grandfather's death and the desire to find who killed him. Jeffery, 16, gets thrown out of his Auntie's house with nowhere to go. Eric goes against his dad's command to stay home with his siblings and instead finds a girl, some fun, and some trouble; Justin writes in his journal about death, suicide, and sexual abuse. La'Ron is too afraid to tell his father he is HIV positive, so he writes him a letter, and his father writes back. The concluding story, "Pretty Mothers Are a Problem," is a chilling portrait of 15-year-old Jeffrey, seduced by a neighbor, and the devastation faced by her daughter. These complex and thought-provoking stories won't disappoint.—Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Oakland, CA
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