Project Windows

by Kevin Brown

Hard Knocks High is a Young Adult Urban Fiction series that features African American and Latino characters. These books are written for Grade 9 and up. Hard Knocks High is the most notorious high school in the Bronx, where the streets and the classroom collide. Project Windows is the first book in the Hard Knocks High series which features sixteen year old, high school sophomore Tafari King. As a sheltered, bible-studying teen, when inside of his strict single-parent apartment, and a menacing thug when on the rugged Bronx streets, Tafari King struggles to live a double life. On one side: his overprotective mother, who is unaware that her son is the most feared young thug on the streets; his caring girlfriend, who opposes his new found life style; a devoted teacher who warns Tafari of the unseen traps in the streets; and a budding rap career that may offer a way out. On the other side: an intoxicating freedom of a life in which reputation is all that matters, of living the lyrics, of his corner boys' crew, thugs, and ghetto star-struck girls all whom Tafari has fooled with his fabricated thug persona. Just when things couldn't get any worse, an old enemy resolves to reclaim dominance over Tafari while a new threat seeks to remove him from the equation entirely. With his life on the line, a gang initiation looming, and time running out, Tafari needs to make a choice before it's too late.

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2014

About the author

Kevin Brown recently won the Permafrost Literary Journal's Midnight Sun Fiction Contest, the Touchstone Fiction Competition, and placed third in the Cadenza Fiction Contest. He has published work in GUD, Space & Time, Murky Depths, Morpheus Tales, sub-TERRAIN, Rosebud, and Underground Voices. His website is: http://www.invisiblebodies.com

Reviews

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story about survival in the inner city

Recommend reading for teens. Good storyline. Lots of unanswered questions remain about some of the main characters. Would recommend this book for middle schoolers

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author uses a great story line which might be a reality more than we can imagine to capture how young boys enter "the life in those streets". The author uses a mentoring program to say we have some answers, but not all. I applaud all who are mentoring and being the change you want to see.

[T.A. Beasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young man struggles with who he is in Hard Knocks High by Kevin Brown. Tafari King is a young man living in a rough neighborhood in the Bronx. He is raised by a single mother that works hard to keep him away from the troubles of the street. Tafari appreciates his over protective mother but then again he understands that he has to toughen up if he is to survive all the dangers on the streets.

Tafari’s street personality soon leads him into trouble. He is made to attend a program at his school where a teacher tries to talk sense into him. Tafari will have to make life decisions when a past threat comes back to finish what he started. Will Tafari be too late? Or make the right decisions just in time?

Hard Knocks High was a surprisingly entertaining book with real life scenarios and consequences. The author does a wonderful job causing the reader to feel compassion for Tafari and his situation. This book gives insight to how teens have to adjust to surviving in hard neighborhoods, peer pressure and also trying to belong. I recommend Hard Knocks High to others.

This book was provided by the author for review purposes only.

Teresa Beasley
A&RBC Reviews
4 Stars=Great Page Turner

[African Americans on the Move Book Club · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tafari King thinks that he knows it all. How did he learn about the streets? By watching everything from 6 stories up. Behind the safety of his bedroom window. His mom tried to shield him from the outside world by keeping him in the house. At 16 years old he's only been
allowed to leave the apartment to go to church and school.
He soon realizes that watching everything from his window isn't enough. It doesn't give him the skills that he needs to survive. When he finally gets into the streets will it be the way
that he imagined? It's amazing what new clothes can do. Is a "rep" really important? Who can be trusted? Tafari has to figure it out before it's too late.
I give this book a 3. It seems to be aimed at a younger crowd. To me, some things don't seem plausible. He was supposed to make a choice but it seems like someone else made it for him. I was left with a few questions.

Adellia Whitson-Stafford
AAMBC Reviewer