<p><b>In Bed Stuy New York a small misunderstanding can escalate into having a price on your head-even if you're totally clean. This gritty triumphant debut captures the heart and the hardship of life for an urban teen.</b></p><p><i>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.</i></p><p>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.</p><p>And then there's Needles. Needles is Noodles's brother. He's got a syndrome and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest craziest things. It's cool though: everyone on their street knows he doesn't mean anything by it.</p><p>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.</p>