Tales from The Hood

The violence of Bang! reflects a sad fact of life for many of Flake's readers. When she visits urban schools, as she does a dozen times a year, many children raise a hand when asked if they know someone who has been shot. Flake is not alone in her attempt to reach kids whose path through childhood is rough and risky. She pays homage to Walter Dean Myers, the African-American author of young-adult novels who blazed the trail. Still, she says, "I think there are not nearly enough black writers who do young-adult books. Our kids go to bookstores, and they don't find anything." Flake is determined to change that. "For whatever reason, I think God wanted me to be a writer. I'm a writer in spite of myself because as scared as I've felt, I think I have a heart for the kids."