The Mouse Rap by Walter Dean Myers, Andy Bacha

Paperback - "You can call me Mouse, 'cause that's my tag

I'm into it all, everything's my bag

My ace is Styx, he'll always do

Add Bev and Sheri, and you got my crew.

...and a cew it is! For fourteen-year-old Mouse, this summer is anything but boring. His father, who checked out from the family eight years ago, is now trying to make a comeback as a dad. Beverly, a new girl from California, seems to like locking lips with the Mouse - but she seems to like other guys, as well. Sheri is trying to persuade the gang to join a dance contest. And there's a rumor that a lot of money - the loot from a '30s bank heist, to be exact - is hidden somewhere in an abandoned Harlem building, and you know the Mouse is determined to get a piece of that action.

Age Range:   10 - 13       Grade:  6 - 8     Guided Reading: W                             

Lexile level:  720L