When We Ride by Rex Ogle

 

When We Ride by Rex Ogle

Diego Benevides works hard. His single mother encourages him to stay focused on school, on getting into college, on getting out of their crumbling neighborhood. That’s why she gave him her car.

Diego’s best friend, Lawson, needs a ride―because Lawson is dealing. As long as Diego’s not carrying, not selling, it’s cool. It’s just weed.

But when Lawson starts carrying powder and pills and worse, their friendship is tested and their lives are threatened. As the lines between dealer and driver blur, everything Diego has worked for is jeopardized, and he faces a deadly reckoning with the choices he and his best friend have made.

Award-winning memoirist and poet Rex Ogle’s searing first novel-in-verse is an unforgettable story of the power and price of loyalty.

"In this riveting, at times heartbreaking verse novel, Ogle delivers an affecting portrait of two “ride or die” friends in dire circumstances for whom the phrase becomes scarily literal."

― Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Dynamic and affecting… Written in spare, emotive verse that features realistic dialogue and approachable poetic forms. Ogle develops characters and relationships that are so sincere, their growths and losses will likely be both celebrated and mourned by readers. Fans of Jason Reynolds's Long Way Down or Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X will likely savor this moving novel… Magnetic."

― Shelf Awareness