by Frank Bonham
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Product Description
When Rufus Henry gets out of work camp for Grand Theft Auto, he has only one place to go— back to Durango Street. Almost right away, he gets on the wrong side of the Gassers, has to join the rival Moors— and starts running for his life. Years ahead of its time, Durango Street, like The Outsiders, shows that gang violence is, sadly, nothing new— and nothing glamorous. "A starkly realistic, convincing, well-written teen novel." — School Library Journal
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Average Customer Review:
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Hooked a non-reader, 2008-06-30
One day last school year, I placed a copy of this book into one of my reluctant reader's hands. He usually read books I suggested for all of 10 minutes before abandoning them. He so thoroughly enjoyed this book that he handed me $6 right in class one day so that I could order him his own copy to take home for the summer! Success! This is a book I would highly recommend teachers from Junior High through High School have in their libraries and classroom libraries.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Durango Street Provides Life Lessons, 2008-01-11
I'm 42 and read this book some time around 1978 in the 7th grade when I was 12 maybe. I think it was the most influential book on me as a young male adolescent and I'm a white surbanite from a relatively peaceful town. I could still relate to the desperation of Rufus to change the path he was on. The book also helps you understand how oppressive society or peer pressure can be on determining who you turn out to be.
Yes, Durango Street is a story about an African-American juvenile deliquent who lives in the ghetto, Rufus Henry, who, although he makes bad choices and rises to become a gang leader, he still is the protagonist in the story. He comes from a single parent family and his Mom loves him but is so busy making ends meet that Rufus is really on an emotional island, forced to grow up fast. Mom seems helpless in stopping Rufus's demise. Although Rufus gets into serious trouble, even a younger reader understands that he does it mostly out of sense of necessity for his own survival. And, you empathize with him.
The story also shocks you if you're not someone who even remotely grew up in a ghetto environment where there are serious gang problems. You learn to appreciate that environment for what it is or what it must be like living in it. What I liked most about the story is Rufus's intermittent longings for a relationship with his absent father, a supposed football star, who left his mother. He idolizes his father as I recall and his near mythic stature seems to give Rufus some strand of hope to get himself out of the place he's stuck in.
The real lesson I think the story provides is that despite a bad hand you're dealt, it's still possible to get out. Rufus, doesn't necessarily make it, but you root for him to and his actions become the makeup for what you'd say is a reverse role model. More importantly, the book tells the story of a tragic character you empathize with despite his notorious status.
This book should be mandatory reading for kids by 8th grade and for deadbeat Dads. Your kids, especially your sons, need you.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Durango Street, 2006-12-01
This book is really good. At first it seems really boring and kind of a gangster book, but later on its really interesting. You see the character's personality change. You also find out how life is very hard in the gangster world because you have no where that is safe. The main character Rufus Henry, is the source that changes the group called Moors. It is an exicting novel that shows the rivalry between the different rival groups. (Moors, Gassers, Bloods etc.) If you pick up the book and it seems boring in the beginning, i advise you to continue reading it. The book in the middle is totally awesome. Don't let this oppurtunity to read a good book slip by. Frank Bonham is an excellent author. READ THIS BOOK!
Jennifer Wong
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Durango Street, 2006-11-30
This book is really good. At first it seems really boring and kind of a gangster book, but later on its really intereseting. You see the character's personality change. You also find out how life is very hard in the gangster world because you have no where that is safe. The main character Rufus Henry, is the source that changes the group called Moors. It is an exicting novel that shows the rivalry between the different rival groups. (Moors, Gassers, Bloods etc.) If you pick up the book and it seems boring in the beginning, i advise you to continue reading it. The book in the middle is totally awesome. Don't let this oppurtunity to read a good book slip by. Frank Bonham is an excellent author. READ THIS BOOK!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 From the author of Tales of Ancient Xenar, 2006-04-14
Yes, I read this book in high school 20 years ago during my sophomore year. I didn't read it because I wanted to. It was an assignment given by my english class. Now dramas like this aren't the genres enjoy reading. But Durango Street left an indellible imprint in me that lives on to this day. It taught me a lot about people who live on the wrong side of the law. The main character, Rufus is a young man fresh out of prison for Grand Theft Auto. He fins a lot has changed in his old neighborhood. For instance, a drug dealing gang called the Gassers rules Durango Street. So Rufus is forced to join a rival gang called the Moors. Throughout the story, we see Rufus make many choices based on morality. Sometimes he makes the right choices and sometimes the wrong ones. Personally, my favorite part of this book was towards the end when Rufus helps organize the school dance.
Now this book was a small contributing factor in my decision to be a writer. If any of my children ever wanted to follow my footsteps, I'd give them a copy of this book to read. This story will be with me for the rest of my life.
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