Rating: 
Summary: Way Past Cool
Review: I recently finished the book "Way Past Cool," I really liked the style of writing the author presented. The book revealed how life in the ghetto is, the setting of the book took place in Oaktown. Although this is only one of the ghettos throughout the United States, this book describes the way all ghettos are prevailed. The main characters in this book were a gang called the "Friends," the gang consisted of the leader named Gordon, Gordon was an overweight slob. Aside from being overweight he was tough never would back down from a fight, whether he was outnumbered or not he was a born leader. His right hand man was named Lyon, the book focused on Lyon the most out of the "Friends." Lyon was believed to be magic, he always knew what was coming or had guessed very close to what had happened. He was more of the mellow type, but when it came down to it he could be tough as he needed to be. Curtis was always hanging around Lyon, he loved to be in his company, many of the students at their school and around their neighborhood figured them to be gay, but they weren't. Curtis being the youngest one in the gang, therefore Lyon would always watch out for him, stand up for him, and get in fight for him. The last in the "Friends" were two twin brother's named Ric and Rac, they were always fighting with each other, they fought over who would carry the gun who got to watch over somebody, but like most brothers they always made up with each other. Their Rival Gang was called the "Crew" this gang consisted of their leader Wesley, a four other members. Their territory in Oaktown was split up into blocks, The "Friends" had a couple of blocks and the "Crew" had the other few blocks and of course there was neutral ground in between. The Antagonist is a Drug Dealer name Deek, and one of the other main characters in the book is Deek's bodyguard Ty. During the book he falls in love with the woman who works at Burger King. Later Ty turns out to be the key player in this intense and fast paced novel.
My Overall opinion on this novel was very good, I really liked the fast-paced action an I definitely enjoyed the learning a lot more about the life in the ghettos of Oaktown. This book made me realize the different styles of living and to the many extents that people go to be on the top. Before this book I read the book Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry, and if you liked this book I would definetely suggest you go and pick up this book next, it's basically on the same basis as "Way Past Cool" and a very commendable reading.
Rating:
Summary: A great book, a good read, and a much appreciated gift.
Review: After thirty-something years of teaching African-American Literature (and having survived my "mid-life crisis" many years ago) I'm afraid I must disagree with the reader from "Planet Earth". It is not so much that I like this book, but rather that my kids all seem to like it that impresses me most. This shouldn't be surprising as, to the best of my knowledge and research, Jess Mowry wrote this book for the same children it is about. It should be remembered that the book was written in the early 1990's, and what was "hip" then as far as language and expressions is now history. But I suppose this is one of the risks any author must take when writing for kids. The positive message is there, the story is there, the excitement, the color, the life is there, and they are timeless. Common sense would dictate that the more widely read a book is, the more likely it is to have critics. However, it has been my experience that people are generally more apt to write negative letters (or book reviews) than positive ones. Many people are much quicker to critisise than to praise. I find much more "praise" for this book than critisism, and I feel that speaks for itself. I like this book, I teach from this book each year, and even though I give my students a choice of books, most of them read Way Past Cool, and most of them seem to like it. Of course no author can please every reader, nor should any author try to.
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful work
Review: I first read this book as a college student in 1995 as a part of a recommended reading list for one of my courses. I read it start to finish in just a few hours and couldn't believe the impact it had on me. I, for the first time in my life, felt less like I had read a book and more like I had just sat in a room surrounded by a group of boys, listening to their story. Jess Mowry is a phenominal writer and this book should be one that EVERYONE reads at some point in their lifetime.
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful work
Review: I first read this book as a college student in 1995 as a part of a recommended reading list for one of my courses. I read it start to finish in just a few hours and couldn't believe the impact it had on me. I, for the first time in my life, felt less like I had read a book and more like I had just sat in a room surrounded by a group of boys, listening to their story. Jess Mowry is a phenominal writer and this book should be one that EVERYONE reads at some point in their lifetime.
Rating: 
Summary: a safe tour of the ghetto
Review: I liked this book because i didn't grow up in the ghetto and i think this shows the ghetto and the gang life. i think it would be good for people to read who are thinking about joining a gang because it shows that it is not a good life. It shows how a drug dealer trying to move and get more dealing territory turns two anti-drug gangs against each other.
Rating:
Summary: This book is on point!
Review: I read this book when I was 12. I could have been 'Gordon' in this story and this book really spoke to me. I wish I could have been 'Lyon'. I grew up in San Perdo where you hear gunshots all night long. My best friend was killed when he was 13. A 'big' gang was always trying to get us to join them. Drug dealers were always trying to get us to ho for them. The cops treated us like s---. They are the biggest 'gang' of all. This book changed my life. It showed me the whole picture of what all this stupid violence is about. Maybe nobody can write a book that everybody likes and it is supposed to be a 'free' country but I think that the 'Kirkus Review' of this book is stupid and the 'Reader from planet earth' must really live on the moon. He or she should look up words like 'pretentious' and 'over written' in a dictionary before trying to use them. And Kirkus should know better then to try and compare a book to a movie if they are supposed to be so professional. This is just the opinion of one kid from tha hood but this book is on point and I am very thankful that Jess Mowry wrote it. It has helped me in my life and I think it has probably helped a lot of other kids in all colors too. It's always good to know that somebody understands what coming up is like for kids like us. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: review
Review: i think this book gives a good example of what life in West Oakland is like for young African American's raised in poor families. The book takes place in roughly three intense days. It gives the reader an inside look at gang life and issues they have to deal with. Issues like, rival gangs, gang fights, and protecting their territory. I think the best parts of the book were when the characters realized that it takes more than getting shot or shooting someone to be way past cool. I think that if someone was considering joining a gang and then read this book, it would make them think twice.
Rating: 
Summary: Way Past Cool: A Review
Review: Reviewers: Jess Mowry, because of this book, is now my favortie author. This book expresses the true hardcore life on the streets. Depicting poverty, violence, drugs, and the necessity for survival and a few blocks of rugged territory. The "Friends" a small gang of yound boys that struggle to survive and keep their block, find an true enemy, that wants them dead. A drug dealer, hoping to make profit on their deaths, as a means to sell on their block. Ty, the dealer's bodyguard, unexpectadly became the most important character in the story. It depicts the hardness of the street, but also shows the love hiding behind the hard shell. This is a must read. It hypnotizes you. I hope you like it.
Rating:
Summary: Reality on Pages
Review: Reviewers: Jess Mowry, because of this book, is now my favortie author. This book expresses the true hardcore life on the streets. Depicting poverty, violence, drugs, and the necessity for survival and a few blocks of rugged territory. The "Friends" a small gang of yound boys that struggle to survive and keep their block, find an true enemy, that wants them dead. A drug dealer, hoping to make profit on their deaths, as a means to sell on their block. Ty, the dealer's bodyguard, unexpectadly became the most important character in the story. It depicts the hardness of the street, but also shows the love hiding behind the hard shell. This is a must read. It hypnotizes you. I hope you like it.
Rating:
Summary: Way Past Cool: A Review
Review: The ideal audience for this book to me would be an audience of about young adults the ages of 13-15. My opinion on this book is that it was a very eye opening reality strike that I never had before.
One of the literary elements that stood out the most in this novel is characterization. The reason that I say this is because the author gives such a detailed background of each character whether they played a major part in the novel or not.
One specific example would be in the part where, even though the two young guys that were working for Deek in the novel for a short time, the author still gave the reader a run-down of what the two guys were going through that night when Deek came to pay them a visit.
The novel to me lacked some sort of varitey in speech. Much of the language that was used , I can understand, was fit to be of the street lingo. There were a few parts where the author lacked a varity of words when inserting the dialogue.
The emotions that were stirred in me was fear, concern and confusion. Confusion was for the things that were said between Markita and Ty when they were in the bathroom and Markita was dressing his wounds. Fear arose when Ty lunged for the two guys in the hotel room, I thought that this for me was the ultimate climax emtionaly in the story. Concern was for Ty's brother, Danny who I had no idea which direction he was going in the book and whether he was going to live at the end based on his actions.
My impression of the book was one of surprise and admiration. The reason for admiration was because of the courage it took for Markita to take in Deek and trust him even though she knew what he was doing for a living. Also the fact that she could raise a baby only at the age of sixteen. It takes alot of courage at her age to do all that she had done. I strongly reccommend this book to anyone that loves books about real life and anything involving gangs. Some young adults had may be able to relate to this in someway, either by the big brother little brother relationship or by the envrionment that the boys lived in. The story had some outcomes that shocked me but later I grew to understand why it happened that way.
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