Content Warning: This section contains discussions of race, racism, racial identity, anti-gay bias, gun violence and fatalities, wrongful conviction/imprisonment, and the foster system.

Based on what you know about D and the narrator, what do you believe each of their Big Purposes are? What did they end up becoming as adults? Use the text to support your predictions.

In what ways did D connect to Tupac in ways that Neeka and the narrator didn’t? How do the different ways that Tupac holds significance for the characters in the book speak to his status as a cultural icon?

Identity how factors such as race, class, and gender interconnect, and how this intersection has an impact on the ways that people experience the world. Though all of the main characters in the novel are from a Black community in Queens, New York, their experiences vary significantly. In what ways do social class, gender, and sexual orientation affect the way they each navigate the world?