When I Was the Greatest

<b>From #1 <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author Jason Reynolds, a “funny and rewarding” (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>) coming-of-age novel about friendship and loyalty across neighborhood lines and the hardship of life for an urban teen.</b><br><br><i>A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don</i>’<i>t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.</i><br> <br>Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.<br> <br>And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these tics and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.<br> <br>Yeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should've been—where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.