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I’d like to recommend the reader, ‘The Heart of Boston Rap’, written by Dwain Pickett, a close friend of mine. Dwain and I have a lot in common. Both of us come from the United States, both live in Germany. In fact, he even looks a lot like me. Here is how Dwain describes his story:

The Heart of Boston Rap is about a teenage heartbreaker, Ritchie T, his girlfriend Alicia and her best friend Sarah. Sarah is worried about her girlfriend and tries to make Alicia understand that Ritchie, a would-be rapper from Boston’s trouble spot Mattapan, is not the right guy for her. But when he talks the two of them into taking part in a video shoot, Sarah soon gets caught up in the excitement of the rap scene and drawn to the charismatic Ritchie and he to her. She is thrilled to hear that she is now his number one girl, but when he tells her not to say anything to Alicia about it, she finds herself in a very difficult situation.

Featuring several cool raps, for classes 8 – 9.

Pickett, Dwain

€ 6,99

The Heart of Boston Rap (A2)

Erscheinungsdatum: 08.2011

08.2011 (Klett)

Produktinfo
Buch, Englisch
ISBN: 978-3-12-542605-4, Preis CH: 10,60 CHF, Preis A: 7,20 €

‘Stubs Grows Up’ is, as the title says, a story of the genre growing up or coming of age. It’s about a 15-year-old boy, Jay Stone, who is distressed by his stubby legs. Body image dissatisfaction is a widespread phenonemon among young people today. (The alarming statistics on teens turning to plastic surgery document this modern obsession with bodily perfection.)

Jay, though only a Freshman, is the coming star of the school’s football team. But some of the older members of the team want to stop his rise. Knowing he is very sensitive about his legs, they begin harassing him, calling him ‘Stubby’ and pushing him around.

In this trying situation, Jay needs help. Fortunately, his girlfriend is, as he says, not just sweet as candy, but also hard as nails. Together they are strong.

‘Stubs Grows Up’, for 7th and 8th graders, will be published by Helbling in February.

AUSZUG: STUBS GROWS UP

CHAPTER ONE – Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Monday morning, half past seven, time to get ready for school. Jay rolled out of bed. After doing a couple of quick wake-up exercises, he went over to his mirror and looked at himself. Not bad, Stone, not bad, he said to himself and smiled. Maybe he wasn’t ready for Hollywood, but with his dark brown eyes, his thick brown hair and eyelashes, he had the looks that turned girls’ heads. He moved in closer to the mirror and smiled, checking his teeth. Perfect, he thought. Good enough for a toothpaste ad.

As his eyes moved down to his muscular arms, his well-developed chest, and his six-pack abs, he smiled again. The hours he spent pumping irons and doing sit-ups paid off!

But suddenly, his smile froze on his lips. His eyes had moved from the upper part of his body down to his legs. They were too short. Not just short, but too short for his body! He had the upper body of a six footer, but because of his legs he was much less than six feet, six inches less! Sitting, he was as tall as almost anyone. Standing, he had to look up at most of the boys and even many of the girls.

Why hadn’t his legs grown with the rest of his body? What had happened along the way? At five foot six he was one of the shortest guys in his class. Hell, he was the shortest in his own family, even shorter than his ‘little’ sister – by three inches! Where did these legs come from? He certainly didn’t get them from his parents. His parents were both quite tall. His father, who no longer lived with Jay and his mother, was almost six feet. Checking through old photos in the family album, he had found the link. It was his grandfather on his mother’s side. The short-leg gene had jumped from Grandpa Tuttle and landed on him! Thanks a lot, Grandpa!

The kids at school all saw what Jay was seeing and had, of course, come up with an appropriate nickname: Stubs! Almost noone called him by his real name, they all called him Stubs. Stubs Stone. Jay didn’t like his nickname, but had learned to accept it. He had no choice.

What Jay couldn’t see in the mirror, was what his legs could do. They were quick and strong. No wonder he made the Brewer High football team in his first year of high school! He could run at top speed – faster than anyone else on the team – and, like the Duracell rabbit, just keep going and going. Even at basketball, playing against guys taller than him by a head or more, he was a feared opponent because of his speed.

Jay shook his head. Stubs, Stubs Stone, the kid with the stubby legs. Yeah, that’s me, he said to himself with a sad little smile. Suddenly, he heard his mother’s voice. ‘Jay! It’s breakfast time!’

‘Be right there, Mom.’ Jay’s smile brightened. He genuinely liked his mother. He took one last look at himself in the mirror. Then he dressed quickly and hurried down the stairs.