Neighborhood Kid

Readers of Always Running and Tattoos on the Heart will love this neighborhood message.

NEIGHBORHOOD KID shifts the narrative of success from "making it out" of a disinvested community to "making it better." Growing up in one of the most gang-violent areas, David escapes his neighborhood, believing he has left his problems behind. But after a change in environment didn't bring him the escape he hoped for, he soon realized he needed to return home and confront the issues plaguing his barrio, at all costs.

David returns home to fight for his neighborhood-launching a nonprofit, reviving a community center campaign, and revitalizing the courts he grew up on. But the same streets he loves betray him when he is struck in a hit-and-run at a notorious crosswalk in front of his childhood home. Given a second chance, he learns that creating change doesn't have to come at the cost of self-sacrifice.

In NEIGHBORHOOD KID, David blends personal storytelling with actionable frameworks for shifting the conditions holding problems in place, proving that transforming a neighborhood starts with both facing the fire within your community and yourself.