2.5 Stars ( )

A very good poem that just drew me in and captured me. This is the story of a teenage girl from the streets of Harlem whose mom goes to jail for drug dealing and her boyfriend, a young middle class guy with a promising future.

They seem star-crossed, but I had to read to the end to see what happens to them. Were they truly doomed?

I'd have too many spoilers to discuss parts I really liked. I did like it when she tells her guy she'd not some fantasy princess he dreamed up in his head; she's a real girl with a real past. (And that's terribly paraphrased.) ( )

This written-in-verse novel is about a love that has determination above all the obstacles above Harlem city pale streets , poverty and bad situation.


there is that love that peeks from the sun rays that demands us to feel its presence and we still denying it.
between the hair locs and dried bruises

between desperation and losing faith.. it will find its way to your heart ( )

This slim volume, written in free verse, tells the story of Damien and Junice, two Harlem teenagers who fall in love despite all the forces against them. Junice’s mother has just been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for possession and distribution of drugs, and she has no one to look after her and her nine-year-old sister, Melissa. Damien’s mother and father are proud of his accomplishments, including acceptance to Brown, but they want no part of Junice or her troubles. How the two lovers meet, interact, and ultimately decide their fate unfolds in short poems written from multiple points of view. Sometimes we get glimpses into Damien’s thoughts, other times Junice’s, the mothers’, and even the social worker assigned to Junice’s case. Myers displays his considerable talents through these vignettes as each poetic voice is at once unique and in harmony with the other poems.

Both Damien and Junice are strong characters. Damien is thoughtful and kind, while Junice refuses to let her situation define her. She even tells Damien at one point, “I am only what you see, this stick/Of a woman trying to make enough magic/To negotiate the shadows of these streets...My life is not packaged” (109). The adult characters get less sympathetic portrayals; though they all have their reasons for wanting to keep Damien and Junice apart, their cynicism reveals their powerlessness.

Students will enjoy the gritty setting, which gets plenty of loving description by Myers. However, they may find the format hard to follow. It would be best to teach this novel by having students actually read it aloud and act it out, so that they have concrete movements to convey what is at times rather abstract prose. While there is no cussing, mature content makes this a better pick for ages 14 and up. ( )

Street Love is a novel-in-verse and at first I felt completely lost trying to read this format. However, after about 20 pages, I got the hang of it and I really enjoyed the format. I do not know much about poetry, but I appreciate that authors can inspire young and old to read and write forms of poetry. This telling of inner-city living and young teens is brilliantly written. ( )