When I Was the Greatest

$15.99

Hardcover
Author: Jason Reynolds
Photographer: Michael Frost
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Publish Date: January 2014
Language: English
Reading Level: 4.8
EAN: 9781442459472

Out of stock

Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds, a “funny and rewarding” (Publishers Weekly) coming-of-age novel about friendship and loyalty across neighborhood lines and the hardship of life for an urban teen.

A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I dont really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.

Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble–and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.

And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these tics and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.

Yeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should’ve been–where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.

Details

Pages: 240
Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 in
Lexile Score: 740
Interest Level: Upper Grade (UG)
Point Value: 9
ISBN: 1442459476

Awards

2015 Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens - Recommended (Fourteen and Up)
2015 Coretta Scott King Award - Winner (New Talent/Author)
2015 Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award - Nominee (Grades 9-12)
2015 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers - Nominee (Young Adult)
2015 In the Margins Book Award - Finalist (Young Adult)
2015 Tayshas Reading - Highly Commended (Young Adult)
2014 Cybils - Finalist (Young Adult Fiction)