Dope Sick

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Cautionary tale about a teen drug addict.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a book about drug abuse by street punks, so there are plenty of drug and violence references, though nothing graphic, and the main character is forced to confront what the drugs are doing to his life.

  • The main character uses and deals drugs, and participates in a robbery, for which he is sent to jail.
  • A boy is shot in the arm, another shoots a policeman. A man kills another man for calling him a name. Two boys are beaten in jail.
  • A teen gets pregnant.
  • Some, including "s--t" and "f--k."
  • Not applicable.
  • This book is all about drug abuse, both illegal and prescription: many references to many different drugs and drug paraphernalia, and the main character is an addict and injects heroin. A mother is a falling-down drunk who has to be dragged home by her son.

What's the story?

Jeremy, called Lil J, a teen addict, participates in a drug sale that goes bad when the buyer, an undercover cop, gets shot. Falsely blamed for the shooting, Jeremy goes into hiding in an abandoned building. There he meets Kelly, a mysterious guy sitting in one of the rooms with a tv and a remote control, which apparently allows him to see anywhere and anywhen. Showing Jeremy scenes from his own life, past, present, and future, he pushes Jeremy to confront honestly the decisions he has made and the paths he is taking.


Is it any good?

 

Do you remember the movie 12 Angry Men? It was just some guys, in one small room, doing nothing but talking for 95 minutes, and yet you couldn't take your eyes off it. It didn't have any of the things we think a story needs -- romance, humor, action, movement -- just talk. But it was utter compelling. DOPE SICK is like that, but with a touch of magic realism. It's a short book (183 pages) almost entirely made up of two guys in a little room in an abandoned house -- talking. But it's hard to put down.

Like 12 Angry Men, it's a bit didactic, and it doesn't matter. It's gritty, and, despite the touch of magic, doesn't shy away from reality, even to its ambiguous ending. With a rhythmic and seamless use of dialect, it examines issues that thousands of teens all over the country wrestle with every day. And, in doing so, it really has two messages. One, for the teens who can relate to Jeremy, says, "There can be a way out." The other speaks to those who don't have to deal with his problems, and who may be tempted to despise and dismiss those like him with little thought. It says, "Here's how he got this way, and it could happen to anyone."

From the Book:
My arm was hurting bad. Real bad. The bone could have been broken. I couldn't tell. I just knew it was hurting and swollen. I felt like just taking the gun out and throwing it away and giving up so I could get the mess over with. I opened my mouth so I wouldn't make so much noise when I breathed. Down the street I saw the patrol car was still at the corner. He had his lights flashing. I didn't know if he'd seen which way I was running or not. I knew I was too tired to keep running much more.

I started to lift my arm to look at my watch and the whole arm just lit up with pain. The bone had to be broken. I figured it was two or three o'clock in the morning. Skeeter had called me just past midnight and told me they got Rico. I knew Rico was going to punk out. In a way I was glad they got him, but I knew he was going to blame everything on me.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about how kids get started using
drugs. How did Jeremy get started? Why does he continue using them when
he knows they're destroying him? Why does he feel so hopeless? Is he
right, or is there a way out for him?


This review was written by Matt Berman
Teen, 15 years old
February 13, 2011
 
its the best book ever because it teaches u about ur resonsibality and not to drink or do drugs.

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 18 years old
May 21, 2010
 
Drugs and the Street life
This book has a good message to it.. espcially if you can relate to it. I like it and i think there should be more books out there like it .

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent
December 22, 2011
 
it talk abut everything they need to know...
there id everything abut this but it gud for the teen just for them to know wat good for them in there life....

Flag as inappropriate 

This review was written by Matt Berman
Author:Walter Dean Myers
Book type:Fiction
Genre:Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:HarperTeen
Publication date:February 1, 2009
Number of pages:186
Hardcover price:$16.99
Publisher's recommended age(s):14 - 17
Read aloud:14
Read alone:14

This review was written by Matt Berman
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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