I received a copy of We Could be Brothers (Derrick Barnes) while at the ALAN workshop last November. I came home, filed it with the other 100 I need to read and it sat. Until this week. I really needed to read a "middle school" book because that is my weak area. (I never taught middle school and to be honest, that age kind of freaks me out).
I really liked this book! Of the realistic "middle school" books I have read over the years this one read most true to me. I thought Brooks did a good job of balancing, juxtaposing, and exposing the mutliple stereotypes often thrown around about urban kids and schools.
The book was endorsed by Coe Booth and Alfred Tatum--not too shabby.
There is also a book trailer on the author's website.
I'm a middle school teacher who just finished this book...I can't wait to chat with my students about it. It felt a bit preachy for me, so I am curious to see if it felt that way to my students or if they need the message to be that implicit.
ReplyDelete