Avery Washington has spent his entire life in Patterson Heights, a Baltimore neighborhood with a mean rep. It's a good place to grow up--it has heart and soul as well as a few street hustlers, and plenty of solid families just like his. Then one day, his older brother Rashid ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Avery's life changes forever.

Once an A-plus student with hopes of going to college, Avery now has to rethink his future. While his parents struggle to cope with the loss of one son, Avery has to prove himself at his new school, and deal with pressures he can't admit to anyone--not even Natasha, the one person who seems to really get him. But now he'll have to choose between doing what's expected and being true to himself...between maintaining a reputation and growing up too soon....