Book cover for Chameleon by Charles R Smith Jr
2010 Released
384 Pages
6-9 Hours
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
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Candlewick Press (MA)ISBN 9780763646608
Set to the beat of an urban summer, this street-smart novel follows an L.A. teen as he hangs with friends and faces life transitions -- and his first romance.

Shooting the breeze with his boys. Tightening his D on the court. Doing a color check -- making sure nobody's wearing blue or red, which some Crip or Piru carrying a cut-down golf club would see as disrespect. Then back to Auntie's, hoping she isn't passed out from whiskey at the end of the day. Now that Shawn is headed for high school, he wonders if he'd be better off at the school in Mama's neighborhood, where he'd be free of Compton's hassles. But then he wouldn't be with his fellas -- cracking jokes, covering each other's backs -- or the fine Marisol, who's been making star appearances in his dreams. Dad says he needs to make his own decision, but what does Shawn want, freedom or friendship? With teasing, spot-on dialogue and an eye to the realities of inner-city life, Chameleon takes on the shifting moods of a teenager coming of age.

Charles R Smith Jr

Charles R. Smith Jr. is an award-winning author, photographer, and poet with over thirty books to his credit. His awards include a Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration (2010) for his photographs accompanying the Langston Hughes poem, My People and a Coretta Scott King Honor Author Award (2008) for his biography on Muhammed Ali, Twelve Rounds to Glory. Many of his books have also garnered reluctant reader awards, proving that kids that don't like to read do like to read his books. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and currently lives in Poughkeepsie, New York. You can find him at charlesrsmithjr.com.

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