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Summary: Scorpions
Review: Scorpions is a book about a twelve year African American boy named Jamal. He has an older brother named Randy, after Randy gets sent to jail for felony murder, Randy asks his best friend and fellow gang member Mack to tell Jamal that he wants him to take over the scorpions. At first Jamal is reluctant to join the gang, but then he decides that if he did he could get enough money to get Randy an appeal. Jamal also has other stuff to worry about, Indian and Angel, two older members of the gang don’t think that Jamal has enough heart to run the gang so they are trying to beat him down so Indian can take over as the head of the scorpions. After all of this Jamal and his best friend Tito are looking for a way to get out of the gang and it sadly ends with one of them involved in a homicide. Scorpions is the seventh book that I have read that is by Walter Dean Myers. I think that this is a excellent read for people of all ages whether it’s the school scene’s for the teen’s or the gang style for the those in their early twenty’s. The one thing that I didn’t like about the book is that the parts when Jamal is with the gang, I mean it’s like their not real, you can’t just become the head of a click for doing nothing, you got to do something to prove yourself. Other then that it is all right, so go and read it.
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Summary: Breaking Away
Review: Gangs, violence, guns, drugs, and poverty are just some of the topics that other sugar-coated books steer clear of. Walter Dean Myers, however, is a risk-taker and isn't afraid to expose the public to these subjects.
In the well-written book Scorpions, Myers breaks away from the everyday children's books. He writes about a young boy from Harlem, Jamal.
When Jamal's brother Randy goes to jail, Jamal has to take his place as the leader of the gang Scorpions. He thinks it is a bad idea. In my opinion, Myers successfully intertwined the worlds of violence and gangs. Jamal, the innocent bystander, and Indian, a fellow gang member, battle for position of head Scorpion. It is Indian's rough personality that Jamal is intimidated by.
I enjoyed this book a lot. The book reminds me of how people fight in my school and I could relate. As I was reading the book, I felt supportive of Jamal and the decisions he needed to make. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a refreshing change of perspectives. Anyone can relate to this book.
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Summary: Excellent Book for reluctant readers
Review: Teaching a class of emotionally disturbed boys with a low reading level is often challenging. What's more challenging is to find literature that gains the interest of my students. Scorpions is an excellent book to use with reluctant readers. My students became engaged in the book from the moment we began it. They even wanted to read more after their reading period had ended! This book is high-interest reading that deals with real-life challenges our children face today. Most importantly, I was able to use the book to teach my language arts curriculum. Excellent book to use for character analysis/sketches and figurative language. Finally, when we were finished reading the novel, the students wanted to read more of Myers works. This is what teaching reading is all about...getting students to read more!
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Summary: The House of the scorpions
Review: The Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers is an inspiring book for kids in their teens. I read it for reading journal. This book is about a boy, Jamal, and his friend, Tito, who get themselves caught in a pickle. They do not know whether or not to join a gang, the scorpions, a illegal gang that does drugs and illegal substances like that. When Jamal gets a gun from Mack, gets into fights with Indian, and randy, Jamals brother is sent to jail and stabbed by Indian who is a gang member and doesn't want Jamal to be leader of the Scorpions Jamals world is turned upside down. The major part in the book was when Jamal met Indian and Angel and at the park downtown. It was brave how Tito stopped Indian from stabbing and probably killing Jamal. This book does not teach you a lesson but it does tell most readers how lucky they are to have a nice home and community. If you want to find out if jamal joins the scorpions or not read the book. It was one of the greatest books I have ever read. I recommend this books to kids of all ages. Eric Schimler
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Summary: Extremely moving book!
Review: The book, Scorpions, by Walter Dean Myers is an extremely well written book. I have always been fascinated for some reason on the hardships and lives of gangs. Maybe because I have helped some close friends of mine get out of gangs and drugs and I never knew exactly how they felt. I dont know. But when you read a book like this, it's like you were a friend of Jamal and Tito, the two main characters. Walter makes you feel like you are in the book and you belong there. It is a great book with a lot of emotions that is hard to put down. It's about a young boy named Jamal whose brother, Randy, is in jail. Jamal's best friend, Tito, is always there for Jamal through good times and bad. The book goes through details of Jamal's trouble times with Randy's appeal, school, and his brother's gang, the Scorpions. Once Jamal is in the Scorpions, only trouble seems to face them. Will he be able to get out alive?.....
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Summary: Bang!
Review: Bang! This is the sound you will hear in Scorpions, by Walter Dean Myers, a present day tale about gang life in Harlem, New York. Jamal, the main character, struggles to keep up with normal life, while getting sucked into the life of the Harlem underworld. His brother, who is in jail, and Mack, notorious for being crazy, pressure him to lead a Harlem street gang, the Scorpions. Jamal's friend, Tito, is honest and kind, and sticks by Jamal through his troubles. When Mack gives Jamal a gun, Jamal is not sure what to do with it.
Scorpions shows how hard life can be when you live in poverty. This is an extremely detailed and realistic story. You feel like you are in the book when you read "A blind man with a Seeing Eye dog crossed St. Nicholas Avenue. Jamal watched as the man followed the dog across the street. The dog looked happy taking the man around."
While Scorpions can be exciting at times, much of the book dragged on. It is full of violence, but you would expect fighting in a book about street gangs. "He didn't see the punch coming .. Angel hit him again. He felt his stomach turn in, and began to throw up." Details like this are sprinkled everywhere by Walter Dean Myers.
If you get yourself involved in something dangerous and inappropriate for your age, the outcome will not be good. Sixth to eighth graders interested in the dramatic life of the streets would enjoy reading this book.
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Summary: Scorpions-The Hard Choice
Review: Scorpions, a novel by Walter Dean Myers, takes place in the 1990's in the Harlem section of New York City. Dean depicts the life of an African American teenager named Jamal, who is trying to survive in the tough, poor, gang-filled neighborhood in which he lives. Jamal, a determined, honest, and somewhat scared twelve- year-old, does manage to survive with the help of his best friend Tito, his mother, and his sister. Jamal must decide how he wants to live his life. He is in conflict with himself. Should he join the gang called the Scorpions? Being a member would give him security and the ability to make money running drugs. It would offer him the sense of power and confidence that he yearns for. It would also doom him to living a life on the fringes of the law, like his brother Randy who is in jail for murder. He is also in conflict with members of the gang who will test him, trying to determine how far he will go to show his loyalty to the gang. Finally Jamal must find a way to make it in a school environment that has been worn down by years of student failure. Can he learn to be his own advocate? Will anyone think that he is worthy of an education? Myers' depiction of the Harlem life in which Jamal lives will keep the reader on the edge of his seat. The dialogue is authentic and realistic. The emotional life of Tito and Jamal is presented in a way that allows the reader to feel their torment, frustration, and sense of hopelessness. The events of the story keep the reader guessing. Myers makes it difficult to predict what course of action Jamal will eventually take. Each of the choices is presented in a compelling manner, forcing the reader to reevaluate his own thoughts on the matter. In the end, Myers convinces us that we must be true to ourselves and stand up for what we believe in, even if it means going it alone for awhile.
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Summary: Scorpions not good animals, Not a good book
Review: A Review by Jeff Jamal's Family isn't rich. Jamal's brother Randy was sent to jail because he killed a man. Jamal's mom is working a lot to save up enough money for Randy's appeal, $2,000. That is a lot because Jamal's father is s deadbeat and Jamal hardly sees him. Jamal has a sister named Sassy who the name really fits. Jamal has a really good friend named Tito. Tito is 11 and Jamal is 12 they both go to the same school. At school a boy named Dawayn gives Jamal a hard time for being poor. Jamal fights him several times and loses everytime. Jamal goes and sees one of randy's old friends named Mack. Mack gives Jamal a gun and now the real trouble begins. Three things that I disliked are the dialoge, lack of good action, and the ending. I didn't like the Dialoge because it was really hard to follow along and understand it. I do understand that the author wantes the reader to get a feel for the surroundings, but it was like a 45 year old trying to sound hip I.E. 'Let it alone' 'His brother done already blown a dude away'. No one talks like that, but they did in the book. The Lack of action is self-explaintory there was action a lot of it but it was all only one and a half pages long even the ending. The ending was almost like Jurassic Park 3's ending yet worse. It just seemed to end only one problem was solved not all of them. I personally hated this book that's why my review is a bit harsh. BUT I do recommend this book to anyone who likes an easy to follow book, or some one who likes books about gangs. I warn you that there are not that many action scenes. But the story is nice and I think you should make up your own mind about it...
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: The book, Scorpions, is about a young boy and his struggles in a bad neighborhood filled with crime and gangs. Throughout the book he is faced with fights at school, fights at home, and even fights with gang members on the streets. His main problem is that his brother, the leader of the gang called the scorpions, is sent to jail for a robbery turned murder and throughout the book he tries to get money for an appeal. His brother wants him to take over the lead position of the gang and he is only 12 which caused problems between him and the other gang members. This led to the young boy and his friend commiting murder to save their own lives.
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Summary: Scorpions
Review: Danger! Excitement! Tragedy! In a worn down part of Harlem New York, gangs, guns, and drugs plague the streets. The leader of a well-known gang, the Scorpions was arrested and his 13-year-old brother was forced to take over. All of these problems and emotions are packed into one book, Scorpions, by Walter Dean Myers. In this book, Jamal, a 13-year-old tough guy, is forced to take over his brother's gang, leaving him and his friend, Tito, under a gigantic burden, a gun. Jamal and Tito have a great friendship. No matter what trouble Jamal gets himself into, Tito sticks by him. Throughout the whole book, Jamal has to figure out what to do with the gun which Tito is so afraid of, yet can not run away from the danger it brings. In this book Walter Dean Myers uses great sensory images enabling the reader to paint a picture in his or her mind. He also uses dialect getting the reader into the book. One example of sensory images used by the author is the wonderful description of the Scorpion signature jacket. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to young adults. This book can be compared to a number of books written by S. E. Hinton. The message of Scorpions is violence is not the answer.
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