To me, Broad Street Bully is a story that needed to be told, and indeed it’s a story we can all relate to: the struggle to stay on the right path in the face of enormous obstacles. The main character, Eric Stiles, is a recent college graduate who lives in one of the toughest neighborhoods there is, North Philadelphia. And despite the many challenges he faced throughout his childhood, he made it through, and not just physically, but mentally as well.
However, despite his family urging him to stay away, Eric returns to his hometown after graduating. He takes a job at a social service agency as a youth worker and, throughout the book, tries to communicate with a teenager named Michael Saunders. But Mike is a young man born with a history of violence; he is a young man on the warpath.
As the son of one of the most notorious drug dealers to ever produce the streets of Philadelphia, Mike knew only three things: violence, aggression, and rage. At a young age he was taught that these were the only ways to get what he really wanted out of life. But he didn’t know that he was headed down the path of self-destruction, just like his father. Can Eric save his life?
In this book, the streets of Philadelphia also play a fundamental role, in fact, they can be considered as one more protagonist. From the potholes, through the abandoned buildings, to the rich culture that the city has produced; Philadelphia is a city like no other. It is known for being a tough town, but loved for being a place that will always stay true to its own identity. It is my hometown. And after traveling the world and back, I say it with pride. It is a place that builds character, and it is also a place where only the strong, the mentally strong, survive.
The streets of Philadelphia hold a key role throughout the book, until its climactic ending. It’s an ending that will blow your mind and force you to never look at youth culture the same way again. It will open your eyes to the problems you face growing up in today’s ghetto America.
“Stay true to yourself, and regret will never enter your mind.”
