The Battle of Jericho - Sharon Draper

I think that this book is aimed more towards middle school. As Jericho joins a prominent school group (AKA "the popular crowd" under the title of "The Warriors"), he discovers it includes severe hazing and prejudice. Of course, Draper includes the romantic aspect through Ariel, the girl Jericho wants to win as his girlfriend. Although Ariel does include some very realistic elements of being the character who represents parts of peer pressure, overall the extremity of the hazing and the constant jargon in dialogue takes away from the realism of the story. Draper has a tendency to seem like she's trying too hard to represent our modern culture by dispersing a plethora of jargon and street-like diction. I would recommend it for a light read for middle school students, or maybe for a good lesson in the dangers of peer pressure, but for high school the book is just too simple and unrealistic.

Chelsea Grimmer

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