Patterson Heights by Felicia Pride (2009)

I only really felt alive when I was around Natasha or when I was in bed listening for Rashid. In the rest of life, I wasn’t doing much more than the minimum–breathing, eating, bathing, going to the bathroom and hanging out with Ricky (p 150).

Avery Washington and his older brother Rashid are defying the odds. They stay smart, treat the ladies with respect and have the support of their two loving parents. It’s not easy, living on the East Side of Baltimore, but together, they are planning and saving for their future.

Then Rashid is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gunned down and dead before the ambulance gets him to a hospital, his death shakes the Washington family. Avery decides not to speak, his mother becomes obsessed with finding her son’s killer and his father just tries to make ends meet and keep the family afloat.

They move to the Country outside Baltimore but things don’t change. They only get worse. Avery tries to cope with his grief, his parents arguing and the burden of the knowing who killed his brother – a secret he keeps from his parents (and the police) to keep them same.

Trevor, Peety’s son, didn’t mean to shoot anyone. Peety, a drug lord, bought it for his ‘soldier’ son; an unwanted gift. But when his pride is challenged, Trevor acts stupidly in a hot moment. Rashid pays the price.

Then Avery meets Natasha in Straighten It Out, a program for teenagers struggling with grief, substance abuse, physical abuse, etc. She becomes the spark that begins his healing process.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I don’t read a lot of urban lit, I never lived in an urban area (unless you count Syracuse… but I lived on the hill so I don’t count that), and my library is located in a suburb. So I don’t believe I’m qualified to judge the language or veracity of this text.

It is highly readable. It was selected as a 2010 ALA Quick Pick for Young Readers and that makes sense. The narration is informal and, while grammatically incorrect, more accurately reflects language as it is spoken.

It struck an emotional cord, though I had to familiarize myself with the vernacular (the use of words like ‘copped’ and ‘cats’ took some interpretation). I thought Avery’s family and their falling apart was well handled.

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