Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry is on the real. It's a story about three homies who live in West Oakland, California. There is something different about each one of them that keeps them from being liked by most of the thuggers and so-called cool kids in their typical innercity school. Dante, who is 13 and the main character, was born to a mom who was on crack (she died). There is something wrong with his heart so he can't play sports or do a lot of physical things. The hospital could fix it but that would take a lot of money. Another boy named Wyatt is a big fat dude who likes animals and going to the zoo. He has a big snake and a family of pet rats in his room, which he shares with his little brother Cheo who is also very fat. Their mom runs a little cafe down by the docks. Dante's other boy is a muscular dude of 14. His name is Pook and his "problem" is that he's the only gay boy in his school. He is a good student and wants to be a doctor but he doesn't have the money to go to Medical School. Dante, Pook and Wyatt have known each other since they were little kids. Dante's dad is an engineer on a tugboat and is gone a lot of the time towing barges, but there is a lot of love between him and his son. The story has a good beginning where you learn about the characters and their situation, but the action really starts when the boys find a big pack of coke that was thrown away by a drug dealer when he was getting chased by the cops. His name is Air Touch. He is 18 and a typical wannabe badboy. Dante, Pook and Wyatt also make friends with a homeless kid named Radgi and try to help him get off the street. But, back to the action: at first the boys think what they found is only crack and are ready to give it the flush so it doesn't pollute their neighborhood more that it already is. But then they find out that it's pure coke and worth big money. Then the question is do they try and sell it to get the money each one needs to make their lives better when they know it will be cooked into crack and sold right back in their hood, or do they do the right thing and flush it down the toilet? This is a very interesting story because it's not like many other young people's books where the plot and characters are simple. There are many other interesting characters, like Kelly Pak, who is a 14 year old Korean boy whose dad owns a liquor store, and dorky Jinx who is a crack addict at 13 but who is trying to get clean. I really liked the descriptions of the characters in this book. If you have any imagination you should be able to see every one of them in your mind. This is a very deep book and there are so many other things going plus the main story that you never know what's going to happen next. There were many surprises. Some were good and others made me sad or angry. There were other things that made me laugh. The ending is another surprise in a lot more ways than one. This is the kind of book where you think you know what is going to happen but there is always something different instead. None of the characters are the sterotypes you might expect them to be. You could even feel sorry for Air Touch for being a fool. ( )