Scorpions

Scorpions deals with the friendship & loyalty of two twelve-year-old boys, one black & one Puerto Rican. Neither lives with his father. Jamal lives with his mother & sister, & Tito lives with his grandmother in an inner-city neighborhood filled with violence, gangs, poverty, & drugs. Jamal's life changes drastically after he acquires a gun; will he sacrifice his innocence & risk his relationship with his best friend?
This paperback 1989 Newbery Honor Book is for young adults & is written by Walter Dean Myers.