Rats in the Trees consists of several short stories about a pubescent gang's life in a small area of Oakland and is thus a precursor to Way Past Cool. Like Way Past Cool, Six Out Seven may be somewhat autobiographical, telling as it does about a young African American who flees Mississippi only to find racism in Oakland. Babylon Boyz tells of young adults discovering a cache of cocaine and of their struggle to decide whether to sell it and use the money to better their lives or to destroy it so that it will not further poison a neighborhood already hurt by drug abuse. In these books, plot is seldom important, with coincidences contriving to propel events in unlikely directions, but the characterization is often masterful, and the issues are real ones that real-life youngsters Way Past Cool 415 must deal with. Departing from...