Snitch

I see why my students wanted me to buy this -- it's a page-turner, it's full of drama and excitement, it feels "real." According to her website, Van Diepen didn't grow up around gangs herself, but she taught in Brooklyn and did her research.

That said, now that I've read it I don't feel comfortable keeping it in a middle school library. My students need to see the challenges of their urban lives reflected in books -- including gangs, drugs, and pressures to have sex -- and they need to have access to books that make them want to read. But a few scenes give me pause. For instance, at one point Julia learns that girls are inducted to the Crip girl gang by "fucking" a Crip. There's a whole discussion about who she'll pick, and then she's show more sent upstairs with her boyfriend to the dirty room the gang sets aside for this purpose. He's an absolute gentleman, proposing that they "mess up each other's hair" and pretend. The whole incident, and its implications, are so awful and so dark that I don't think I can in good conscience put that in front of 8th graders, even 8th graders who might already have this sort of story as part of their lives, without knowing we'll get to have a serious conversation about it later.

I need to find the books that deal with these issues, that feel edgy, but aren't quite this edgy. Already have all the [a:Sharon M. Draper|51942|Sharon M. Draper|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1236906847p2/51942.jpg], [a:Sharon G. Flake|69480|Sharon G. Flake|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1193783109p2/69480.jpg], and [a:Renée Watson|4381088|Renée Watson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], and while they're great, they aren't always cutting it with my students -- I think largely because the covers are packaged for literary credit rather than edgy teen appeal. show less

The book was addictive, compelling, and full of exciting and intriguing parts. I never thought that I’d get hooked on this book. I had read it for just one whole day, which is very seldom to happen to me.

“I don’t know what I would have done without my poetry. When you’re laid up and want to cry but don’t want to bust your stomach open, you have to find some way of venting your feelings” – Julia DiVino

The story revolves around this girl named Julia. She is studying in a school where gangs are everywhere. Joining one never occurred to her as she is too focused on her study. Being able to graduate and go to college is what she only thinks of. Even if her friends, Marie and Black Chuck, are members of those gangs, she never show more thinks of herself joining and becoming one of them. She is always on a neutral side. But, everything turned upside down when Eric came into the picture. She was able to make a decision that will change her stay in South Bay High School.

I liked Julia. She has this personality that you’ll find very amusing and very refreshing. She has this strong will and great determination. Aside from that, she is also smart. She always stands on her opinion as long as she knows she was right about it.

What I don’t really like about her is she seems not to care for her dad. She always talked back to him, and she even thought that he doesn’t care for her when it’s the opposite. She is lucky to have an understanding and loving father because, until the end, he was always there for her even when she got into a fight.

This book is amazing. Allison van Diepen did create a story that will keep you on turning the pages. The book talked about real life problems – father-daughter relationship, friendship, school gangs, etc. The characters were great. I felt that they were real and that I’m just reading someone’s life.

I suggest this book to everyone, especially if you liked stories that will keep your heart racing will make you feel different emotions and will make you want more. show less

I really liked this book. If you’re into books about gangs and drugs this is the book for you. All I can say is that things will seem really good but then towards the ending you’re left with a big cliffhanger. I want a sequel to this book to find out what happened to the characters and if they ever got back together. It really shows how love can change a person especially in this story with people being jumped in and out of gangs and people beating each other up. If you don’t like books like what I have described then I wouldn’t recommend it.

Allison Van Diepen is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I look forward to continuing this series. This was a fascinating and terrifying glimpse into gang and violence that are in our young adults lives.

This was the story of a young girl that finds a boy that seems to have it all figured out. Although, things start becoming a lot more complicated. Julie finds herself faced with some troubling decision, and the consequences lead to more difficult decisions. Will Julie be able to figure it all out before it is too late.

Plot: Julia goes to a school controlled by gangs. Even one of her oldest friends, Black Chuck, is a Crip. But Julia decided a long time ago that she would stay neutral. Everything changes when she meets the new kid, Eric. He’s gorgeous and everyone wants him but he seems to be only interested in Julia. Things are perfect until Eric suddenly joins the Crips. Julia follows him deeper into the world of gangs, one which is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

I haven’t read much street lit and I know very little about street gangs (I admit it, I’m a white girl who grew up on Canadian military bases) so I can’t say how well Van Dieppe captured this world. She certainly describes it well enough to make it seem real. I’m a bit wary show more of the amount of slang she uses. It seems to work (though again I don’t know the street) but the problem with slang is that it can go out of date quickly. Still, I understand that this is a convention of the genre.

The novel doesn’t glamorize gangs and the culture surrounding it but neither is it preachy. You can understand why people like Black Chuck or Eric might join a gang, and the codes of behaviour that they follow. The book is also fast paced and exciting with short chapters and a lot of dialogue. Even someone who isn’t a big reader can enjoy it.

I actually met Van Diepen when I got this book and Raven. She spoke quite eloquently about street lit and working in a Brooklyn high school much like this one. I think she has a very good understanding of girls like Julia and she is very serious about trying to reach them. show less

Julia Devino has always steered clear of the gang trouble that surrounds her at school, despite having friends in each of the major gangs. But at South Bay High, sometimes it's easier to join up than to stay out. When Julia meets Eric Valiente, a seriously hot tranfers student who has big plans for his life and shows no interest in getting jumped in, she falls hard and fast. And when he gets jumped into the Flatbush Junction Crips without telling her, she finds herself thrust into the middle of all the gang action, and is soon labelled a snitch by the Bloods-associated RLB.First off, the cover of Snitch has enormous teen appeal, and it flies off the shelf here at my library. And while the writing starts off a little choppy, once Julia's show more relationship with Eric gets off its feet the book really rolls along. It paints a convincing picture of the many ways that teens can get pulled into a gang lifestyle even when they have no interest in joining. Julia's loneliness when she's been ostracized is palpable, and you can feel her relief when she finds a new group of friends (and protectors) in the FJC. And while the beginning of Julia's time with the FJC is not exactly rosy, it's not so awful either - the book doesn't shy away from showing the good things about having a group of people watching out for you. As Julia sees further into the power-struggles and politics of her new gang it is clear to both the reader and to Julia herself that she has made a decision that could destroy her future.The absence of adult involvement really struck me in this book. While Julia's dad and her teacher Ms. Ivey both clearly cared about Julia and were concerned about her, neither one of them made much of an attempt to reach out, and they certainly didn't take any steps to help her. Julia's character is a strong, independant young woman, but she is sometimes incredibly naive for a person who's grown up with gangs all around her. The most compelling characters to me were Eric and Black Chuck - two young men who are smart and funny and full of potential, but have been pulled into gangs because of family involvement. Eric's back story, which is hidden from Julia for most of the story, adds both a wonderful twist to the story and additional depth to van Diepen's novel.On my blog show less

I really like this book! It talks all about gangs and how being in one can alter your life forever for either the better or worse. In Julia's case, it was almost always to the worse. The characters are all human, which may sound strange, but some authors aren't able to convey a proper sense of emotion and they come off cold. Allison Van Diepen doesn't have that problem. The ending of the book is also really unexpected and I like that about the book. There's a comical sadness to it.