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The itch starts when things get too heavy for Lil J. Skin popping or stealing pain pills from his mom help him relax. But Lil J's focus is wandering because money is short, and his man Rico knows a way to make some quick cash. It's supposed to be an easy deal, but it isn't so simple when the buyer is an undercover cop.

With a gunshot wound to the arm, Rico in jail, and a police officer clinging to life, Lil J is starting to get dope sick. He'd do anything to change the last twenty-four hours, and when he stumbles into an abandoned crack house, it actually might be possible. . . .

Walter Dean Myers weaves elements of magical realism into a harrowing story about drug use, violence, alternate perceptions of reality, and second chances.

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Walter Myers was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia in 1937. When he was only two years old, his mother died. At age three, Walter moved to Harlem with his new foster family, the Deans. Growing up, he spent a lot of his time on the basketball court and in the public library. Walter's foster mother, a half-Indian and half-German woman, taught him how to read.

As a young adult, Myers worked odd jobs, but he never stopped writing. Whether he was loading trucks or working at the post office, he usually found time to write at night. Myers published articles in journals and magazines, but the biggest break of his career occurred in 1969, when he won a contest organized by the Council on Interracial Books for Children. His entry, Where Does a Day Go?, became his first published children's book. Myers has since become one of the country's most popular African American writers for children and teens. He has won five Coretta Scott King Awards and two Newbery honors. Drawing from his own experiences growing up in Harlem, Myers often writes about the challenging realities that face today's urban youth. Walter Dean Myers frequently collaborates with his son, illustrator Christopher Myers.

Myers, the father of four, lives with his wife in Jersey City, New Jersey. As an adult, he adopted Dean as his middle name — in honor of his loving foster parents

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About the Author - Walter Dean Myers