Through the fictional characters of DeShawn, his best friend, Terrell, and the gang leaders in If I Grow Up, Todd Strasser gives the reader a vivid picture of the pressures people face living in poverty with gang members ruling the neighborhood in the inner-city.  I really liked this book because it followed DeShawn and Terrell as they grew up in the projects and let me see a world I am totally unfamiliar with; on the other hand, it is disturbing that people in America are actually living like this in some places. 
 
Although DeShawn and Terrell were best friends, they had different goals.  At age 12, Terrell looked forward to getting into a gang while DeShawn wanted to stay out of it.  DeShawn was generally a kid who just wanted to help out his family, stay alive to see another day, do the right thing and  stay out of trouble.  Had he made some different choices, he may have succeeded.  Strange how things turned out.  You trust the wrong person, and boom—you’re dead.
 
If I Grow Up story kept my interest all the way through, right from page 1.  It’s well written and has clean language.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about teenagers.