oakland (calif.)

"Janae works days at her Granny's Strange Goods Superstore selling lucky rabbits' feet and other useless junk. At night, she dominates the courts with her boys. She knows she'll make it big--luck's got nothing to do with it. Right?"--Back cover.

"Fifteen-year-old Justin keeps a list of goals stashed under his mattress. Number 1 is 'figure out life plans.' Number 7 is 'play a little basketball every day.' Nowhere on that list is 'take on the crew from Ghosttown,' but he's not that type to back down from a challenge"--Back cover.

Alex Abramovich relates details about his friendship with Trevor Latham, a man who bullied him in grade school and founded the Oakland motorcycle club the East Bay Rats; discusses his experiences living in Oakland and immersing himself in the club; and examines the social conditions of Oakland during the early twenty-first century.

Presents oral histories of African American young men from Oakland, California, featuring their responses to prompts such as "what is your greatest strength," "if you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be," and "describe your life in 10 years.".

A successful Los Angeles-based writer, having been dumped by Nicole, his lover of seven years, is drawn into an unusual love triangle when Nicole decides she wants to date him again, but she is not willing to give up her lesbian lover Ayanna.

Investigates the story behind a drive-by shooting in Oakland, Calif., motivated by a stolen bicycle. Looks at the family life of those involved and at the social conditions in which they lived.

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

On his sixteenth birthday, still trying to cope with the unexpected death of his father, David Schumacher decides--or does he--to change his name to Blue Avenger, hoping to find a way to make a difference in his Oakland neighborhood and in the world.

Story of two street gangs--the Friends and the Crews--in Oakland California.

As Maceo Redfield tries to learn the truth behind his childhood friend's death, he finds himself drawn deeper into Oakland's drug underworld.