John-+Way+Past+Cool(the+real+one)

"Should be read by all of mainstream America"-Terry McMillan

About the Author: Jess Mowry Jess Mowry was born on March 27, 1960 in a town near Starkville, Mississippi. His father, Jessup Willis Mowry, was an African-American, and his mother was caucasian. At the age of 2, he moved out to California and lived with his father who was a construction worker, and mostly worked on the cranes. In the year of 1980, Jess was diving in dumpsters trying to find food because he was so poor. He is an American author of books and stories for children and young adults. He says he is appalled when black school teachers, who teach black students do not put his books on their reading list, even though his books hit home and send a very strong message. Jess says, and i quote that the reason he writes is because "After over thirty years of working with kids and raising four of my own, along with a few strays -- none of whom are in prison or collecting Welfare -- not to mention almost twenty years of writing books and stories for and about kids, I've found that it's a lot easier for people to be "pro-child" about some kids than it is for them to care about and champion "other" kids. Perhaps, like the animals in George Orwell's Animal Farm, some kids are more equal than others? Almost all my stories and books are for and about black kids, who are not always cute and cuddly. My characters often spit, sweat and swear, as well as occasionally smoke or drink([|Goodreads] )." Mowry is now living in a small California town.

Plot Summary The book __Way Past Cool__, takes place in the city of Oakland, California, mainly in the impoverished area of the town. To give you a visual of what to think of while reading this is to think of Spanky, Alfalfa, and the rest of the Little Rascals waving guns, sucking down 40s of malt liquor and using language that would surprise anybody who was not used to it. The main characters are Curtis, Lyon, Ric, Rac, and Gordon(the leader), all of whom are part of the gang known as the "Friends". These are all 12 year old kids who are still in sixth grade. Other main characters include Deek, Markita, and Ty. Deek is the towns top drug dealer, and Ty is his bodyguard. Markita is a girl that Ty sees at the fast food restaurant and has a thing for her at that moment. The irony in that is while Ty likes her, Deek hates her because she did not give him what he wanted while they were dating, so Deek does not want Ty to be with her. Ty does not want to be a bodyguard for a drug dealer, because he knows he can better than what he is. His usual nights consist of delivering the drugs to the clients, picking up a case of beer for him and Deek to split, and then getting the hookers that Deek ordered and having sex with them. Then waking up in the morning and cleaning up from the night before, making breakfast for Deek and then repeating the same process. Ty has a younger brother who is 12, and does not want him to fall into everything that he did, so is trying as hard as he can to keep his brother away from what he is involved with.

The story starts out with the boys in the middle of a shooting between a rival gang and themselves. They are heading to school when all of the sudden, bullets are flying at them from different directions, and they don't know what to do. All of them throw their stuff down and hide. The leader, Gordon, pulls out his .22 pistol and fires back, but it is a cheap gun and jams on him. Nobody is hurt except for one member named Lyon, who has a metal shard lodged into his shoulder blade and is bleeding. After they are done there, they head off to school and while on their way they are stopped by a police car. The kids are doing nothing but standing on the sidewalk minding their own business, but the cops still stop at them anyways. One was a white cop, and one was black. This just shows what people thought of young black kids when they saw them on the streets. The cops visualized guns, drugs, beer, violent acts, and knives all while the kids are just standing on the sidewalk. Gordon is beaten by a cop without reason and they find nothing. As they leave, the cops yell racial slurs out the window, as if there is nothing wrong with doing that.

This is where Deek comes into play with his bodyguard Ty, and his girl Markita. Deek is out to set the "Friends" and the "Crew" against each other so that he can control even more territory. The battle between these two is very intense and very intriguing, but a bit repetetive. The side story is Ty and Markita and how they are doing with each other. Markita has a little 2 year old boy and says that if Ty is going to be her boyfriend, he has to help with the child. Ty choses the girl over his homeboy Deek. Ty then teams up with both of the gangs and lets them know what is going on and they both come together and spoil Deek's plan to take over. The boys stay in the gang and everything is restored to normal. Ty also gets to be with his girl Markita.

There is no real hero in this book, but the most influential character in this book in my opinion would have to be Markita. I know that may seem weird because she was not involved in either of the gangs or Deek. But, if she had not wanted to be with Ty so badly, she would not have told him to change or be left behind without her. If she had not been there, Ty would not have helped out the gangs and many people would have been dead and gone from this world.

What I liked about this book?- I personally liked everything about this book. Mowry did not hide anything from the reader, or try and cover anything up with some cute words or stuff like that. I also liked how real this book is. I know I cannot personally relate to this, but I have seen and heard some gang stuff, so in a sense I can sort of relate to it. Another good thing was how he really made you feel like you were right there in the action, with his use of description of smells, scenes, and feeling. He also used very loaded language in this piece of writing.

What I did not like about this book?- Like I said, I really enjoyed this book and it will be one of my favorite reads of all time, but there was one negative for me at least. The book seemed to drag on at times. Not all the time, but in certain parts it seemed repetitive and some stuff did not need to be left in the writing. Other concerns for people may be the use of language, because there is a lot of cursing and racial words involved with this book. It may also be hard to read for people because of how real and graphic this book is.

Since the book takes place in the gang ridden part of Oakland, I thought I would let you hear a sample of what people would probably listen to. Other artists would include Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Lil Wayne, T .I., 50 Cent, and a lot of other rappers. media type="custom" key="3550424" media type="custom" key="3550704"

This slide show is not made to offend anyone, but for the sole purpose showing you what is going on in the book. Some of these images may disturb you, but once again are not made to offend anybody in anyway, shape, or form. media type="custom" key="3555650"

Other books by Jess Mowry-
 * Babylon Boyz
 * Ghost Train
 * Six Out Seven
 * Children of the Night
 * Bones Become Flowers
 * Skeloton Key [[image:gangs_clo.jpg width="320" height="240" align="right" caption="What the book is about"]]
 * Phat Acceptance
 * Tyger Tales
 * Voodoo Dawgs
 * Knight's Crossing

Other Pages to Visit
 * 1) Jordan Jeske-Green Mansions
 * 2) Aaron-A Farewell to Arms

Works Cited "Jess Mowry", __Goodreads.__ 27/3/09. []