This is the story of two boys, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude. They are friends and neighbors, but because Dylan is white and Mingus is black, their friendship is not simple. This is the story of their Brooklyn neighborhood before "gentrification." It is the story of 1970s America, when the simplest human decisions were laden with potential political, social, and racial disaster. And it's the story of 1990s America, when no one cared anymore. This is the story of belonging to a society that doesn't accept you. This is the story of prison and of college, of Brooklyn and Berkeley, of soule and rap, of murder and redemption. (back cover)

This is the story of two boys, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude. They are friends and neighbors, but because Dylan is white and Mingus is black, their friendship is not simple. This is the story of their Brooklyn neighborhood before "gentrification." It is the story of 1970s America, when the simplest human decisions were laden with potential political, social, and racial disaster. And it's the story of 1990s America, when no one cared anymore. This is the story of belonging to a society that doesn't accept you. This is the story of prison and of college, of Brooklyn and Berkeley, of soule and rap, of murder and redemption. (back cover)