Autobiography of My Dead Brother [Hardcover]

Jesse, 15 lives in Harlem, New York City. He is the only child of a bright couple and his best friend, Rise is one of his biggest influences.

Jesse and Rise grew up together. When Rise, 17 turns to crime and joins the Counts, a local street gang and insists on bringing Jesse in with him along with their friend C.J., Jesse starts to reassess their friendship. He sadly realizes that he and Rise are traveling down different streets; the drive-by shooting of their friend Bobby, 14 has left the neighborhood shaken. C.J., a musical prodigy who plays piano in their church also has his sights set on a different path. It is C.J. and Jesse, a budding young artist who is quite talented at drawing who realize they have more in common with each other.

Rise and the Counts are in for a Count-down; sadly, drive-bys claim more casualties. The Counts were described as being on the tame end of street gangs; a warring faction called the Diablos were responsible for shooting a friend; killing a cabbie and later, some members of the Counts.

Sidney, a kind and fair police officer takes the boys under his wing. He is respected in the neighborhood and word on the street was that he was a fair man, which he was. When Mason, 19 an older member of the Counts was busted for homicide, it was Sidney who took Rise and Jesse to the jail ("Iron City") to see the fate in store for their former friend.

More problems crop up in the neighborhood; Rise, seeing a chance to leave Harlem wants to call Jesse and the Counts together for a final goodbye. Sadly, that goodbye really was the end.

This is an excellent book that reflects the city and street culture well. The characters are fresh, cutting edge, serious and believable. The drawings were excellent and a bonus to this book. Jesse, an aspiring cartoonist created two West Indian charcters, a wise man and a bird. The bird was a metaphor for Jesse and it is through this avian character that he asks questions in his drawings that Wise answers. Myers has written many excellent books, but I think he really outdid himself with this one.

To pick up a book written by Walter Dean Myers is to expect nothing less than literary greatness. Among his many accolades, MONSTER was the first winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, a National Book Award Finalist, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book. He has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults and has penned over 70 award-winning books intended for a wide age range of readers, from picture books to teen novels. His son, Christopher Myers, is a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor recipient, and has illustrated a number of breathtaking books for young readers, including his solo effort entitled BLACK CAT.

In AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY DEAD BROTHER, it is therefore not surprising that the father and son team has once again created a true-to-life story that is profoundly moving and one that boldly addresses many of the prevailing conflicts confronting urban youth today.

As in many of Dean Myers's other books, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY DEAD BROTHER opens with a bang. Fifteen-year-old Jesse and his friends C.J. and seventeen-year-old Rise are attending a funeral of one of their own from their Harlem neighborhood who was recently gunned down in a drive-by shooting. Understandably, the mood in the church is quite somber and the three boys are faced once again with the reality of living --- and dying --- in the 'hood. After the funeral, the boys separate from their parents and go to the park to hang out. In a rare moment of clarity, Rise says what's on all of their minds: "You know, it's hard when somebody gets wasted. Bobby G was good people and everything, but that's why you have to make your life special every day. You never know when your time is up."

As the novel progresses, the idea of living each day to its fullest weighs differently on each of the boys. Jesse, the artist of the bunch (and the book's narrator), seems to be the most vulnerable of the group. His sensitive and boyish character lends a restive beauty to the story's telling as his urge to "fit in" ebbs and flows along with his struggle to determine what's "right" over what's "cool." C.J. is more stand-offish and prefers to spend most of his time away from the fray in church, playing the organ and expressing himself through his music. Rise is clearly the most brazen of the three, both verbally and physically, and tests his destiny daily by taunting rival neighborhood gangs, dealing coke on the street, and flaunting his carefree attitude by wearing flashy jewelry, driving fancy cars, and sporting a colorful (i.e. profane) vocabulary. When viewed side-by-side, the lives and philosophies of these three boys are the backbone of the story and create a convincing snapshot of what it feels like to be a teenager in Harlem.

Overall, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY DEAD BROTHER is exactly what it sounds like: an in-your-face tale of growing up --- and getting by --- in the inner-city. In Walter Dean Myers's capable hands, this book powerfully addresses issues of race and class, life and death, with a rigor and strength many readers won't find in other contemporary offerings. Young boys especially will relate to Jesse's voice and will of course find solace in Christopher Myers's commanding renderings.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

Teenager Jesse is writing the autobiography of his childhood friend and "blood brother" Rise, in a series of sketches, portraits, and comic strips from their times together. Rise is a little older than Jesse and is starting to be pulled in by the allure of the protection of gangs and the easy money of drugs. His biographer, Jesse, is confused by the change in his friend, and by Rise's attempts to turn the local boys' club into a street gang at war with neighborhood rivals. Given the title of the novel, one can only guess what the outcome of Rise's foray into drugs, guns, crime, and the power struggle is going to be.

Narrator Jesse provides the reader with an honest (and many times perplexed) insider look at the allure of street gangs. As his world spins out of control, he is torn by a love for the blood brother Rise used to be and his parents' urging that he cut all ties with his friends and the boys' club. Unforgettable, with fresh and realistic characters.