“This doesn’t look like your typical dipshit.” 

This is a detective’s response to the 15-year-old boy who was murdered in South-Central. The detectives at first assume the boy is merely another gang member, but the boy was instead a gifted student. This senseless murder is Corwin’s inspiration for the novel. 

“First of all, this book is not the inspirational tale of a messianic schoolteacher. In this book, the students are the heroes and heroines, the ones with the inspirational stories.”

Corwin clarifies that the purpose of his novel is to recognize the gifted students at Crenshaw. Corwin does not shy away from revealing the teachers’ flaws, and he concentrates on the heroic ability of the students to triumph over a great deal of adversity. 

“Tell me why, for the average African American/The American dream has become the American nightmare.”

These lines are from Sadi’s poem. Sadi is a gifted poet who writes movingly about racism and the African-American experience. He struggles with motivation, however, and is not always able to achieve the results he is capable of.