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When I Was the Greatest

by Jason Reynolds

Friendship, loyalty, and neighborhood boundaries

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Regular price $21.27 USD Sale price $12.76 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

Friendship, loyalty, and neighborhood boundaries

Ali balances school, boxing, and helping at home while trying to keep his friendship with Noodles intact. Noodles’ appetite for trouble repeatedly draws Ali in, and the presence of Noodles’s brother Needles adds another dimension to their street-level circle. The story’s central tension grows from the gap between what feels manageable among friends and what happens when the three boys cross into an unfamiliar, unforgiving place. Its coming-of-age frame brings together loyalty, family responsibilities, and the pressures shaping an urban teen’s choices.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in coming-of-age fiction.
  • Readers drawn to stories about friendship and loyalty across neighborhood lines.
  • Readers interested in young adult fiction centered on urban teen life and family responsibilities.

Themes

Friendship and loyaltyNeighborhood boundariesComing of ageFamily responsibilityChoices and consequences

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds, a "funny and rewarding" (Publishers Weekly) coming-of-age novel about friendship and loyalty across neighborhood lines and the hardship of life for an urban teen.

A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don't really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.

Nah, not his thing. Ali's got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there's a dude looking for trouble--and, somehow, it's always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy's gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it's all small potatoes; it's not like anyone's getting hurt.

And then there's Needles. Needles is Noodles's brother. He's got a syndrome, and gets these tics and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It's cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn't mean anything by it.

Yeah, it's cool...until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be...somewhere they never should've been--where the people aren't so friendly, and even less forgiving.
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