Where It All Goes Down
Modern-Day High School in the Bronx (New York, NY)
Bronx Masquerade takes place in—where else—the Bronx. And yes, we're talking about the borough in New York City. And no, it isn't a fancy part of town.
When it comes to the day-to-day lives of these students, they're pretty much the same as lots of average high school kids. They go to school, they hang out with their friends, they fight with their families, they listen to music, and they dream their dreams. In this way, this cast of characters is super relatable for pretty much any reader.
On the flip side, because these kids live in a poor part of a major city, their lives are a little different than a kid growing up, say, in the suburbs. Because the characters in this book grow up with the news media depicting them as thugs and thieves and in neighborhoods that aren't brimming with options and success stories, school seems pretty pointless to most of them. Well, until poetry comes along.