Synopses & Reviews
Long before President Barack Obama praised his work as “an all-encompassing, all-hands-on-deck anti-poverty effort that is literally saving a generation of children,” and First Lady Michelle Obama called him “one of my heroes,” Geoffrey Canada was a small and scared boy growing up in the South Bronx. His childhood world was one where “sidewalk boys” learned the codes of the block and were ranked through the rituals of fist, stick, knife, and, finally, gun. In a stunning pairing, acclaimed comics creator Jamar Nicholas presents Canada’s raw and riveting account, one of the most authentic and important true stories of urban violence ever told.
Synopsis
Long before President Barack Obama praised his work as “an all-encompassing, all-hands-on-deck anti-poverty effort that is literally saving a generation of children,” and First Lady Michelle Obama called him “one of my heroes,” Geoffrey Canada was a small and scared boy growing up in the South Bronx. His childhood world was one where “sidewalk boys” learned the codes of the block and were ranked through the rituals of fist, stick, knife, and, finally, gun. In a stunning pairing, acclaimed comics creator Jamar Nicholas presents Canada’s raw and riveting account, one of the most authentic and important true stories of urban violence ever told.
About the Author
Geoffrey Canada is the president and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, a nonprofit, community-based organization serving more than 17,000 children and adults, which has been featured on
The Colbert Report, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and
60 Minutes and in the
New York Times Magazine. He is the author of
Fist Stick Knife Gun (Beacon / 0423-4 / $14.00 pb) and
Reaching Up for Manhood (Beacon / 2317-4 / $16.00 pb).
Jamar Nicholas is an artist and educator. He was previously editorial cartoonist at the Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest African American newspaper. He teaches at Moore College of Art and lives in Philadelphia.