In after-school detention for the first time, high-achiever Robeson meets and bonds with a fellow eighth-grader, tough Pacino, who hides his good grades and laughs at Robeson's geeky ways. They both hate their gangster classmate, Tariq, who threatens them, and tension mounts as they begin to wonder if Tariq has a gun. Weaving together the very different lives of three African American kids at school and home in their Kansas town, this fast-paced novel will grab readers with its anger, humor, and tenderness. Pacino has never seen his dad, and with his brother in prison, he cares for his little sisters while his mom works two jobs. In total contrast, Robeson lives in a huge, fancy house, while Tariq, shuttled between group homes, has almost nothing. Despite the many confrontations, there is no obscenity; in fact, Robeson is passionately against blacks using the n-word. The messages are occasionally heavy, and Pacino speaks for the reader when he tells Robeson to quit quoting his perfect dad. Still, even reluctant readers will be swept up in this contemporary teen drama.

Two African American middle schoolers from different sides of the tracks unexpectedly become friends during afterschool detention sessions. Robeson is a good student from a middle-class family; Pacino acts tough but is secretly responsible and smart. The characters are a little flat and the too-neat resolution is like a made-for-TV movie, but readers may be drawn in by the teens' experiences.

Barnes (The Making of Dr. Truelove) offers an earnest story of the nascent friendship between two middle-grade boys, who have had very dissimilar upbringings despite both growing up in Kansas City and attending the same school. Brought together during after-school suspension (in a depressing subterranean room with ""an ancient Michael Jordan %E2%80%98Reading Is Fundamental' poster that was so old, Jordan had hair""), Robeson Battlefield and Pacino Clapton discover there is more to the other than either suspects over the course of a few days. Pacino nicknames Robeson ""Crease"" for his well-pressed pants (""You must have an industrial pressing machine at the crib""), uptight nature, and sheltered community where he lives; Robeson is equally quick to judge Pacino, based on his sloppy appearance, coarseness, and wrong-side-of-the-tracks address. But as a school bully's threats escalate and the boys spend time with each others' families, understanding and respect bloom. While Robeson and Pacino can at times seem too good to be true, Barnes paints a realistic and hopeful portrait of a community in which adults and youth alike learn the value of both self-reliance and mutual support. Ages 10%E2%80%9314. (Nov.)