Todd Strasser's If I Grow Up

According to CNN, “Criminal gang membership increased as much as 40 percent in the United States during the past three years, according to an FBI report released Friday. An estimated 1.4 million people are active in more than 33,000 street, prison and outlaw motorcycle gangs across the country, the report states.” Todd Strasser writes the book, If I Grow Up, the book shows the perspective of a kid that lives in the projects. DeShawn, a kid that lives in the projects of Chicago wanted to stay out of gangs, stay in school, and to support his family. But, the conditions got too bad for him, so he had to join a gang. He had to join the gang so he could have enough money just to survive. Little did he know, that joining the gang would just make

DeShawn’s teacher Mr. Brand said, “Maybe you’re the one who’ll really do something with his life. But to do that, you’ll need a better education than you get here. So you’ll think about Hewlett, right?” But, “Now, you understand, DeShawn, we’re only allowed to submit a certain number of students for that exam. Have you Prepared?’ I shook my head. I’d never gotten around to studying the list of words Mr. Brand had given me.” Because DeShawn didn’t study, he couldn’t get into a better school. If he had studied, and gotten accepted, he might have been able to go on and get a decent job without joining the gang. Finally, other people got out of the projects, or at least some got a job. On page 13 it says, “The window went down, and Officer Patterson wagged a thick, brown finger at us. He was the only person I’d ever heard of who’s grown up in Frederick Douglass and become a cop.” If someone grew up that was from the Frederick Douglass Projects and become a cop, DeShawn must have had chances to do that too. Also, DeShawn’s friend Lightbulb got a job at King Chicken, and later on a job as a janitor. If some other people got a better life without joining a gang, DeShawn could have also done