Bang!

Reason Book Chosen

Booklist and School Library Journal had positive reviews. Also, Sharon Flake is a two –time Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book winner.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Sharon Flake

Publisher: Hyperion

ISBN: 078684955X

Copyright Date: 2005

Genre

Urban Fiction

About the Author

Sharon Flake is the author of five other young adult novels, The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street, Who Am I Without Him? Short Stories About Boys and the Girls in Their Lives, Begging for Change, Money Hungry, and The Skin I'm In.

Reader’s Annotation

 Can tough love make a boy into a man? How tough is too tough?

Plot Summary

Mann is a young African American teenager who lives in a dangerous part of the city and likes to paint, take care of horses and hang out with his best friend Keelee. At the beginning of the book Mann recounts the death of his seven-year-old brother, Jason, whom was killed right in front of his eyes, caught in the crossfire of a neighborhood shooting. Jason’s death changes the family significantly. Jason’s mother still bakes Jason birthday cakes, Jason’s toys are spread all over the house as if he is still there playing with this toys, and Jason’s father is paranoid about the possibility of losing yet another son, his only son now, Mann. Mann’s father takes extreme measures to toughen Mann and keep him out of trouble, so that he will be able to survive in this harsh world he lives in. In his efforts, though, he gets a little carried away, and his plan backfires.

Critical Analysis

Mann’s character evolves heavily, with the reader seeing soft, then unexpected hard sides of his personality, then unexpected soft sides again.  The plot takes interesting and unexpected turns, as do some of the relationships that Mann has. Mann’s relationship with his father is complicated, sad and heartbreaking, while his relationships with his best friend, his horse, and his artwork are heartwarming.  Somewhere in the mist of those relationships is the complex and deeply moving relationship Mann has with his dead brother.

Additionally, the various settings in this book are detailed, rich, believable, and raw. 

Themes/Issues/Tags

Guns, Violence, Coming of Age, Drugs, Young Death, Friendship, Father/Son Relationship,

Controversial Subject Matters

Abandoning a child vs. engaging in a cultural practice (African) of leaving a boy on his own for a while to become a man. “Tough love” vs. abuse, and cultural differences around this subject matter

Engaging in illegal activity to “get by” – is this morally wrong or not? What if it is a child?

Booktalking Ideas

Character hook - Read description of Mann and then a description of “a man”, pulling from a variety of sources such as the dictionary and/or from other African stories. Suggest that Mann might become a man and have readers wonder how

Character hook – (character paradox) - Read description of Mann engaging on the streets (Mann’s tougher side), then a passage of Mann engaging with his horse

Read Sharon Flake’s poem “Boys Ain’t Men…Yet”, in the book, before page one.

Explore “tough love” topic/theme, and also “death of a young person/sibling”

Curriculum Ties

Cultural Practices - Coming of Age

Community Violence

Reading Level

 9+

Interest Level

 13-17