This is a cool story about Remi DuMont who is a 13 year old boy from Haiti who has just moved with his mom and dad to Oakland California. On his very first night in tha spooky old house he wakes up after midnight to see a steam train roll by his window like a huge fire breathing monster. There is a lot of noise and smoke but tha next morning he finds out that his mom and dad did not hear anything! Neither did anybody else who lives in tha house. Not the strange old landlady who lives on tha dark and creepy 3rd floor, or tha cool homegirl Niya (also 13) who lives with her mom on tha ground floor. Remi and Niya hookup on their way to school and become friends. Niya has never seen or heard tha ghostly train in tha night even though she and her mom have lived in tha house for years. But she believes that tha house is haunted because she gets creepy feelings from down in tha basement. Niya and Remi get together to try and solve this mystery. They find out that a man was murdered on tha ghost train about 50 years ago. Because Remi is from Haiti and knows about Voodoo he is 'sensitive' to ghosts. Like all of Jess Mowry's books this one is on tha real and very exciting to read. And he drops a lot of information that tells you he knows tha people and things he is writing about. I like tha way so many things in this book are told on tha side, like some of Remi's old life in Haiti as a street kid which makes him feel sorry for poor kids in tha U.S.A. I also like tha way you learn about black history and Voodoo when you read this book. It is also a very 'ghetto' and on tha real story full of on tha real people and kids. The story also makes sense on tha ghost real and tha ending is just right. Even if you never read a ghost story before I think you will like this one. Read it late at night.

This was my first experience in reading a Jess Mowry book and after I finished this one I went out and bought all of the others! I read a lot of ghost stories but this is one of the few with Black characters and settings I could really relate to. But I think that people and kids of any color would love this book if they like supernatural tales. This one has got it ALL! I wish I could give it TEN STARS!

A lot of people think that "Way Past Cool" is Jess Mowry's 1st novel but its really this one. I like this book just as much as all of his others. This is a good story and really tells what things must have been like for inner city black kids before gangstuh rap really started and crack was still a new drug. If you like Jess Mowry's books then you can't have a full collection without this one. You should also read "Concrete Candy" by Apollo if you like this book.

This might not be an easy book to find but it is worth looking for. It is the first book written by Jess Mowry and it very accurately describes what it was like to be a young black street kid in the late 1980s. It is a collection of stories that are related to each other almost like chapters in a novel and is about the life of thirteen=year-old Robby who runs away from Fresno California and hooks up with a gang of street kids in Oakland. It is very interesting to see how life was like for these kids back in the day before it became media cool to be a gangster and everybody had to have cool black threads that are usually made in China. In a lot of ways this book is a prediction of what would happen in the next decade of the 1990s. The stories are told in a simple and clear style of writing with no tricks that tells things like they are and lets the reader make his own judgements about them. I agree with the man who reviewed Jess's newest book Bones Become Flowers that if more people had listened and used their own sense ten years ago we might have saved a lot of our kids from gangs and drugs, and if kids had read this book they also might have saved themselves. I like the way things are presented in this book with no preaching. Robby's life is hard and violent in many ways but he is a young man with a good heart and his fight for dignity and survival is no different from that of other black kids today.

Babylon Boyz, by Jess Mowry, is a thrilling novel about inner city life. It's based around the lives of three youg teens. Starting out with the words "Hey Homo," it captured my attention right away. Pook is the homosexual who is out of the closet. Wyatt is very overweight and Dante is a Rastifarian with a serious heart condition. These boys are best friends who want more than anything to get out of Babylon, their dangerous ghetto. Throughout the story they encounter many problems including: dealing drugs, fights, gang problems, tagging bathrooms and running from Air Touch. (A big gangster/bully)
A quote that particularly stuck in my mind was: "We all just little black ants in Babylon, waitin' to get stepped on and too stupid to see it." It's kind of true because these boys know that they will never be good enough with society looking down on them all the time.
I guess the whole reason I liked the book was, even though the characters may come off rough edged or as black trouble makers they are not. If other people took the time, they would find a bunch of passionate young men.
I would recommend this book to all mature audiances because the content may not be appropiate for children.

In the novel, Babylon Boyz, by Jess Mowry, three newly teen boys go through a serious of risky situations in the inner-city streets of Oakland, which they call Babylon. Pook, an out of the closet homosexual, Wyatt, an overweight boy and Dante, a boy with a heart condition. They meet many people along the way, such as Radgi, a homeless person that has a big surprise in the end, Air Touch, who threatens Dante's life with a gun and Jinx that "helps" Pook with his first homosexual encounter. They do such things as dealing cocaine, giving birth to a baby on a couch and almost getting arrested for tagging bathrooms, several times. Throughout the story these boys search for an answer for ways to get out of Babylon and in the end, they figure out, if they would stop searching so hard, that it's right in front of their face. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this book a nine. I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely interesting and enlightening. I was mainly intrigued with they boys everyday life. In mine, I have never come close to being shot in the head nor dealing drugs, so I like to read about a life that is different than mine, to expand my knowledge of different worlds. With this book, you are into it the second you read it. And while reading it you won't run into many problems, my only problem was figuring out who was who, but by the middle of the book, that was settled. Other difficulties may include trying to figure out what the slang means, but most of it is pretty straightforward. This book is for anyone who wants to know more about places other than were they live, if they don't already live in a "ghetto". It's really a book that almost anyone would like except little kids, it definitely has some mature subjects in it. A quote that I was really captivated by was when a man said to Dante, "Free will isn't free son. You pay for it every time you make a choice. And even if you choose not to choose, you've still made a choice." This means so much to me. Every single word in it relates to the whole meaning. The meaning is this, how when you make any choice or you decide to do something or even decide not to do something, you are always making choices whether they are good or bad, smart or stupid, right or wrong. And free will, something you are supposed to have no problem doing and you will always have some obstacle in the way and that's life.

There are 3 black kids from Babylon. Pook is a Homosexual, Dante has a heart problem, and Wyatt is just...fat. The kids live in the ghetto, and go through a lot of hardships trying to find themselves, and deciding what's right and wrong. The people they meet aren't who you think they are when you first read it. This book is the best book I've read so far. You get so into the book, you forget everything else. Everything about inner-city life is in here. Poverty, Pre-marital intercourse,drugs, Teen-age pregnancies and the difficulities making it through a day of this. They could make a tv movie out of this...I'll be the first to watch it. The book is not for kids under 15. It has adult language and adult content. You will keep on wanting to read the book, it's almost addicting.

I enjoyed the character development of the story, and how the people are not all as they seem, and don't all believe in "the game" but have to do it anyway. However, the plot is a little weak and the verbage that the characters use grows old after a while, even though it's true to life.

I find it hard to believe that people, kids, live like they are portrayed in this book. I appreciated the descriptive nature of the book and it gave me a phenomenal view into a troubled lifestyle but in a humanizing and sad way. It's a good book, just a little slow in the beginning and, in parts, not very well written.

First off, I want to say that this is an excellent book. The beginning of the book was very slow, but once you merged into the nover further, the better the book got, and the harder the book was to put down. Its a basic black coming of age novel about a 13 yr old who leaves Mississppi and travels because of circumstances to Oakland, California. Ive reccommended the book to all my friends, and I suggest you do to. It uncovers alot of myths that float around about the black community that needs to be brought to light, and Mr. Mowry does just that![.] GO GET THE BOOK!...

I am writing from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. I finished reading this book last night (May 4, 2000) and, like Corbitt, had a real dream about it! Few books have been written about the incredible courage and strength of children living in the worst of times and the baddest of places. This is one of the best! And I agree with Corbitt - we (young Africans and African-Americans) have our destinies in our own hands.

Being someone who devours anything written regarding Haiti, I was excited to read "Bones Become Flowers", but was soon skipping entire passages as the author became mired in description that did nothing to further the story. Also there are times when an author can believably write from the other gender's perspective and get it right, unfortunately this was not the case here. It was pretty obvious that the author was a male, not in tune with what a 30+ female thinks, feels, admires etc.

The most disappointing thing was the ending. In all honesty, "Bones Become Flowers" was a waste of money.

This is the kind of book where the author takes the reader on a journey to Haiti along with the American woman, Tracy, who has in mind to give aid to children in an orphanage. But Tracy is cautious, and sees strange things on the island, at the time inexplicable to her. She keeps her own counsel and begins to allow herself an awareness of the mythic culture surrounding her. She hears of wild boys upon a ship, eventually meets these boys, and becomes fascinated with their lives. All is wrapped in rich jungle fauna, the steaming earth, and Vodoo. Tracy opens herself to unfamiliar concepts and eventually decides upon a course that will change her whole life in unforseen ways. The images are so vivid and rich, I felt myself there on the journey and ever curious for what would come next. The only thing that bothered me was the author's description of Tracy's thoughts, as they seemed not quite on target, as a man writing a woman. This was a minor flaw overall, considering the lush content and fullness of the prose.

I can certainly understand why a few women, as well as (possibly) a few men, might not like the protagonist, Tracy, in this wonderful novel of Voodu, adventure and love. After all, she is brave, resourceful, intelligent, well-read and traveled, speaks several languages, and is quite open-minded. And not so very frightened of spiders and things with "too many legs". Of course these qualities are completely unbelievable for a woman to possess, especially when combined with logic and reasoning, and therefore the entire book should be dismissed as "a waste of money". However, my only regrets in buying this book are that it isn't available in hardcover or in French.

i think this book gives a good example of what life in West Oakland is like for young African American's raised in poor families. The book takes place in roughly three intense days. It gives the reader an inside look at gang life and issues they have to deal with. Issues like, rival gangs, gang fights, and protecting their territory. I think the best parts of the book were when the characters realized that it takes more than getting shot or shooting someone to be way past cool. I think that if someone was considering joining a gang and then read this book, it would make them think twice.

Reviewers:

Jess Mowry, because of this book, is now my favortie author. This book expresses the true hardcore life on the streets. Depicting poverty, violence, drugs, and the necessity for survival and a few blocks of rugged territory. The "Friends" a small gang of yound boys that struggle to survive and keep their block, find an true enemy, that wants them dead. A drug dealer, hoping to make profit on their deaths, as a means to sell on their block. Ty, the dealer's bodyguard, unexpectadly became the most important character in the story. It depicts the hardness of the street, but also shows the love hiding behind the hard shell. This is a must read. It hypnotizes you. I hope you like it.

After thirty-something years of teaching African-American Literature (and having survived my "mid-life crisis" many years ago) I'm afraid I must disagree with the reader from "Planet Earth". It is not so much that I like this book, but rather that my kids all seem to like it that impresses me most. This shouldn't be surprising as, to the best of my knowledge and research, Jess Mowry wrote this book for the same children it is about. It should be remembered that the book was written in the early 1990's, and what was "hip" then as far as language and expressions is now history. But I suppose this is one of the risks any author must take when writing for kids. The positive message is there, the story is there, the excitement, the color, the life is there, and they are timeless. Common sense would dictate that the more widely read a book is, the more likely it is to have critics. However, it has been my experience that people are generally more apt to write negative letters (or book reviews) than positive ones. Many people are much quicker to critisise than to praise. I find much more "praise" for this book than critisism, and I feel that speaks for itself. I like this book, I teach from this book each year, and even though I give my students a choice of books, most of them read Way Past Cool, and most of them seem to like it. Of course no author can please every reader, nor should any author try to.