Why are these books good ?

Gordon Korman 's Son of the Mob ' and Jess Mowry 's Babylon Boyz provide realistic and emotional accounts of how teens raised in violent environments can make positive choices , despite their circumstances Through protagonist Vince Lucas , a seventeen year-old high school senior whose father is a high-ranking member of the mafia , Korman successfully uses a series of techniques to develop the following in young people : an interest in reading , a system of morals /values and conflict-resolution skills . Mowry skillfully utilizes main characters Dante , Pook and Wyatt , children living in a poverty and

crime-stricken community in California , to accomplish similar goals . Both authors ' tools include the following : 1 ) humor and slang language that helps readers identify with characters , 2 ) early conflict , 3 ) violence , 4 ) alcohol consumption and other challenging situations teens face , 5 ) sex , 6 dual personalities and villains , 7 ) foreshadowing , and 8 ) comparison to classic literature

The first technique evident in Son of the Mob ' is humor . Written in first-person , the book portrays Vince as a guy with a great sense of humor despite the situations (mostly because his family 's a part of the mob ) he experiences . For example , Vince goes on a date , only to have it ruined when he finds a body in his trunk . He imagines his best friend Alex 's reaction as follows : Snorkel mask ? What for ? For when you get caught with a body in the trunk , and you have to swim for it . Don 't get cocky , Vince . This is my love life we 're talking about (p .9 . In a second example , Vince discusses what happens after he was arrested because his family gave him a stolen car for his sixteenth birthday . He explains , I lay down the law . No more stolen cars . But they look as if I 'm suggesting that we barbeque Mom on a rotating spit (p . 25 . In a third example , Vince discusses how he met his girlfriend Kendra and rescues her at a party . He says , `I 'll never forget the night we met ' I continue romantically . `It was the science fair . There was perfume in the air or was it formaldehyde (p .54 . In a fourth example , Vince talks about the irony of him dating Kendra , whose father is an FBI agent , while his father is a member of the mafia . He explains that he and Kendra often drive around trying to guess the lives of people in other cars . He says , One time we pass a mild-mannered guy carrying a violin case , and she [Kendra] says , `Oh . There 's no violin in there . That 's a machine gun . I can spot a gangster a mile away ' [And Vince thinks] God , I hope not (p . 92 . In a fifth example , Vince shows his aversion to being nominated for Homecoming King . Vince says , I 'm starting to earn a reputation around school as the guy who doesn 't want to be Homecoming King . People get the impression from all the cursing and muttering every time I...