This book takes a look at gang culture in New York. On a personal level, I didn't like it. I had a hard time liking Jamal, the main character, and the story and plotline were so far removed from my own experiences that it was more fantastic than fantasy. Gnomes and fairies and other dimensions are more real to my sheltered suburban existence than gangs and guns and holdups; this isn't the kind of story I would imagine myself. While I didn't like the story, I know it has a place on the shelf of a library, and it probably did open my eyes wider to some of the problems that kids deal with.
This might reach kids who are interested in real-life action and excitement. I hate to say violence, but if a reader enjoys modern gangster-type stories, this is it, although I don't think Myers glorifies the violence. And while the book does have 12-year-old Jamal trying to step up and be the leader of the Scorpions, he is also an aspiring artist, he does ultimately turn his back on the gang, and his best friend Tito suffers some serious consequences from the experience.
Gangs. Guns. Violence. Death.