ALA Booklist

Mann's brother, Jason, was fatally shot, and violence is threatening Mann's life, too. Approximating an ancient African coming-of-age ritual, Mann's father abandons Mann and friend Kee-Lee in the woods th tragic consequences. Flake's novel takes an unflinching look at violence. Hoffman's serious tones are an effective reminder of the devastating effects of handguns. Hoffman is especially effective when voicing Mann, who, like his parents, is a hollowed-out version of himself in the wake of his brother's death. The narrator's convincing manner of speaking authentically reflects Mann and other inner-city characters. He easily transitions between Mann's African American dialect and that of other characters. An author interview concludes the audio.

Horn Book

Two years ago, African-American urban teen Mann's seven-year-old brother was shot to death, and the family hasn't recovered. After reading about African tribal rites of passage, Mann's father abandons him in the country, hoping the journey home will strengthen him. Mann's modern-day odyssey stretches credibility, but Flake has a strong narrative voice.

Kirkus Reviews

In a neighborhood where random death walks onto your front porch and kills you or your innocent little brother, Mann and Kee-lee become increasingly convinced that they'll die before reaching 17. Mann's parents are in a tailspin of grief and worry about their remaining son. Mann's father, in a bizarre belief that his son needs to be toughened up in order to survive, takes the two buddies camping and deserts them far from home. Making their way home pushes the boys into one risky, illegal and dangerous decision after another. Instead of getting sympathy and support on their return, Mann's father again turns them loose in the city with a little money and some sandwiches and orders not to come back. Unprepared, frightened and desperate, the boys become increasingly involved in criminal activity until disaster hits. The situation deteriorates with horrendous consequences, but somehow artistic Mann finds a way to a redemption of sorts. Gripping and troubling, Flake paints a provocative picture of teens struggling to deal with a world that is out of control and without adults capable of providing help. Powerful—and disturbing. (Fiction. YA)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In a contemporary, hard-hitting survival tale set in a neighborhood where people get shot "for no real reason," Flake (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Skin I'm In) follows an African-American boy's harrowing initiation into manhood. Two years after Mann's seven-year-old brother is killed in a drive-by shooting, the boys' father decides to teach 13-year-old Mann, who narrates, the same lesson received by boys in African tribes. He drives Mann and his best friend, Kee-lee, into the woods and leaves them there to fend for themselves. Wild animals prove to be less of a threat than the people the boys encounter, and once they do return to the city, Mann's father turns them out again to find out what direction they want to take in life ("You wanna be a pimp—well, there's a road that'll lead you there. Wanna be a thief, sell crack and live high and die hard—well, that road's waiting for you too," says Mann's father). The method used to induct Mann into a violent world will spark as much controversy among readers as it does among characters in the book, but in the end, Mann (who fares better than his friend Kee-lee) does learn some important lessons that go beyond survival. There is a gradual yet notable change in his morality as he searches his soul to find what kind of man he wants to be. Ages 12-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Even though random shootings have become increasingly common in his neighborhood, Mann is horrified when his little brother is gunned down while playing on his own front porch. Two years later, the 13-year-old and his parents are still struggling with their grief. His father believes that if he had been less loving and protective, Jason might have been tougher and capable of avoiding the shot. Mann and his friend Kee-lee keep track of the shooting deaths around them, certain that their own time may come and make them nothing more than numbers on their list. Influenced by ancient African coming-of-age rituals in which young boys are sent into the wilderness to attempt to survive, Mann's father takes him and Kee-lee camping and abandons them far from home. For two urban teens with little food or money, this is a dangerous, frightening experience that leads to crime and violence. After the boys make their treacherous way back home, Mann's father turns him out to live on the streets, determined he will not lose another son because he is too "soft." This disturbing, thought-provoking novel will leave readers with plenty of food for thought and should fuel lively discussions.-Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates

This new novel by the promising African American author of The Skin I'm In (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 1998) could be subtitled "Finding Manhood in the Urban Ghetto." Fourteen-year-old Mann, who witnessed the random shooting of his baby brother, Jason, suffers as deeply two years later as though it happened just yesterday. Mann's mother, who still holds birthday parties for Jason, babies Mann, whereas his father searches desperately for a way to protect his only remaining child from omnipresent crime and murder. Meanwhile a confused Mann skips school and does drugs with his best friend, Kee-lee. A turning point occurs when Mann's father, concocting his own version of an African coming-of-age ritual, takes the boys camping and abandons them. Somehow they survive and make it back to the neighborhood, where they become street thugs. Preying on others and preyed upon, they live miserably until Kee-lee's violent death stops Mann short. Written in the vernacular, this novel is held together by the strong characterization of Mann; other characters are more lightly sketched African American stereotypes. The plot meanders, taking second place to Flake's heavy-handed message concerning violence and its destructive effects on the urban community. Some scenes, especially one in which the lost boys are tortured by racists, are hard to stomach. Despite strong writing, the novel is excessively depressing and its ending weak.-Laura Woodruff.