Jamaica hates wearing hand-me-down boots when her friend Brianna has pink fuzzy ones.

When her sister Nikki gets sick, Brianna hopes to play her part as the butterfly queen in the Dance of Spring, but then another disaster strikes.

When her older brother refuses to let her tag along with him, Jamaica goes off by herself and allows a younger child to play with her.

When her friend Kristin tells her she is unable to keep her kitten and turns to Jamaica for help in giving it a good home, Jamaica faces a dilemma when her brother's allergies are affected by the new arrival.

A little girl finds a stuffed dog in the park and decides to take it home.

American Street meets Long Way Down in this searing and gritty debut novel that takes an unflinching look at the harsh realities of gang life in Jamaica and how far a teen is willing to go for family. Things can change in a second: The second Frankie Green gets that scholarship letter, he has his ticket out of Jamaica. The second his longtime crush, Leah, asks him on a date, he’s in trouble. The second his father gets shot, suddenly nothing else matters. And the second Frankie joins his uncle’s gang in exchange for paying for his father’s medical bills, there’s no going back...or is there? As Frankie does things he never thought he’d be capable of, he’s forced to confront the truth of the family and future he was born into—and the ones he wants to build for himself.

Jamaica was friends with everyone in school - except for Russell. No wonder: Russell was a mean brat. When they had art class, Russell borrowed her markers and spoiled her picture. At recess, he threw sand and chased little kids. Jamaica certainly wasn't sorry to learn that Russell was going to move away. She didn't even want to make a card for him, the way the others in her class were doing. But then something happened to change her mind . . .