Scorpions

This story is all about a character named Jamal Hicks who is twelve years old. Jamal is having a difficult time with his family, his teachers and even the kids at school. He is feeling pressure to take over the leadership of the Scorpions gang from his older brother Randy who is in prison. Although his mother, sister and best friend Tito are against it. Jamal’s brother was sentenced to six years in prison for shooting someone in a delicatessen holdup.Crazy Mack, who is Randy’s best friend, has an idiotic idea. He wants Jamal to take control of the Scorpions and run crack. Jamal now becomes the new leader of the Scorpions. His best friend Tito also decides to join the gang. The disrespect from the Scorpions reached a plateau for Jamal when the members of the gang refused to respect him because he was only twelve years old and everyone else was fifteen or older.One evening the Scorpion gang members Indian and Angel approached Jamal. A fight broke out amongst them and Jamal was badly beaten. Jamal noticed a knife sticking out from Indians pocket and thought he was going to be stabbed. All of a sudden, there were sounds of multiple gun shots and Indian and Angel fell to the ground. Jamal realized his best friend Tito was again standing by his side and was the one who pulled the trigger. Shortly thereafter, Crazy Mack came walking by and shot and killed Angel. After this incident, Jamal and Tito decided to leave the gang for good. In his effort to escape the law, Tito became a fugitive and is now living somewhere in Puerto Rico. Jamal is still living in Harlem with his family and Crazy Mack became the new leader of the Scorpions.I liked this book because I love the way Walter Dean Myers writes. There is always a lot of action, suspense and detail.