ABSTRACT
Lil Boy Blue, Smurf, Juice, and Lil Garfield are the street names of four boys who grew up together in the same neighborhood, called Manzanita. They attended the same middle and high schools. They liked to break dance, go to parties, and play baseball. They stayed overnight at each other’s homes when they were younger. They got interested in girls at about the same time and struggled with the normal issues of adolescence. Lil Boy Blue and Smurf are brothers, and Juice and Lil Garfield are half-brothers. Over the course of the 4-year study reported in this book, these boys developed from young teenagers to young men with children of their own. They were learners together in an alternative high school program, called Nuestra Casa, where Debbie was their teacher. They were also active members of the gang known as the Manzanita Lynch Mob Crips (MLMC).
