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If you loved
Books like When I was the greatest
A gritty, grounded exploration of sibling loyalty and the sudden, sharp turn of a neighborhood night gone wrong. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with When I was the greatest.
- neighborhood-centric
- tense
- loyal
- protective
- 01
All American Boys
Jason Reynolds
A gripping, dual-perspective reckoning with systemic injustice that demands you interrogate your own silence.
- 02
The boy in the black suit
Jason Reynolds
A tender, grounded exploration of a heavy heart learning how to beat again in the rhythm of a bustling Brooklyn neighborhood.
- 03
If I Grow Up
Todd Strasser
A gritty, unflinching look at the impossible choices forced upon a boy trying to survive systemic poverty and neighborhood violence.
- 04
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
Karina Yan Glaser
A bustling, heartwarming story of sibling solidarity and the urgent quest to save a beloved family home.
- 05
The Crossover
Kwame Alexander
A kinetic, rhythmic exploration of brotherhood, basketball, and the sudden, sharp pains of growing up.
- 06
Another Brooklyn
Jacqueline Woodson
A haunting, poetic plunge into the intoxicating magic of girlhood friendships and the heavy shadows that eventually fracture them.
- 07
The Contender
Robert Lipsyte · 1967
A gritty, sweat-soaked coming-of-age classic about finding the strength to stand up when the world tries to keep you down.
- 08
The stars beneath our feet
David Barclay Moore
A poignant and grounded journey of a young boy navigating the heavy currents of grief and the tense realities of his neighborhood.
- 09
The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963
HOLT MCDOUGAL
A hilarious, warm-hearted family road trip that unexpectedly collides with a sobering, world-altering moment in American history.
- 10
Slam!
Walter Dean Myers
A rhythmic, grounded coming-of-age story that hits with the fast-paced energy of a streetball game and the heavy reality of growing up.
- 11
The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo
A fierce, rhythmic heartbeat of a book about a girl learning to carve out her own space in a world that wants her to shrink.
- 12
A hero ain't nothin' but a sandwich
Alice Childress
A raw, polyphonic chorus of voices orbiting a young boy's struggle with addiction, offering no easy answers but profound empathy.
