Straight off the bat, the most impressive thing about the story was how the author was able to juggle so many different aspects of Gil's life without it being hard to follow. As a result, it felt less like I was reading about a character in a book, and more like I was following the life of a real person. Going off of that, pretty much every single character had their own story to tell, and I loved the way Hooper illustrated the many ways racism and trauma color not just an individual's personality and behaviors, but also their values, their worldview, and their goals. I really enjoyed getting to read this coming of age story. I appreciated the way the protagonist was flawed and didn't always make the right choices.
There's a value for teenagers in seeing characters who have to make tough choices and don't always get it right. I only had one small issue with this book which is that some of the side female characters felt like they lacked some depth, and I had trouble with Gil's relationship to the girl from Brooklyn versus the girl he was interested in that he was going to school with. I appreciated all of the things this book managed to fit into the story.
There's a value for teenagers in seeing characters who have to make tough choices and don't always get it right. I only had one small issue with this book which is that some of the side female characters felt like they lacked some depth, and I had trouble with Gil's relationship to the girl from Brooklyn versus the girl he was interested in that he was going to school with. I appreciated all of the things this book managed to fit into the story.