One of the main characters in this story is Jamal.  There are two main problems in this story that Jamal has to solve.  The first is that Jamal’s brother, Randy, is in jail for drug dealing and murder.  While visiting him in prison, Randy tells Jamal  to take over his gang, the Scorpions.  Jamal needs to sell crack to raise money for Randy’s  appeal.  The second conflict is that Jamal threatens a bully with a gun that a gang member gave him.  Jamal is not sure if he should throw the gun away or confess.

From this book, I learned not to get involved with drugs, gangs and violence.  Jamal caught up in things like drug dealing and gangs, and he even threatened to kill someone! I learned that it is important to do the right thing and to stay  out of trouble with the law.

The main characters in this story are brothers, Jamal and Randy, Tito, a friend, and Mack, a gang member.  This story takes place in Harlem, where all the boys live.  The problem is that the Scorpions need a leader while Randy is in jail and someone needs to sell crack to make money for the appeal.  This problem is solved when Mack takes over.  Another problem is that Jamal has threatened a bully with a gun and the bully told the principal. This is a problem because Jamal will be arrested just like his older brother and Jamal doesn’t think his mother can handle that kind of stress.  The problem is solved when Jamal’s friend, Tito, takes the blame and says that Jamal was just holding the gun for him and that everything that happened was his fault.