"Boston, 1992. David Greenfeld is one of the few white kids at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School. Everybody clowns him, girls ignore him, and his hippie parents wont even buy him a pair of Nikes, let alone transfer him to a private school. Unless he tests into the citys best public high schoolwhich, if practice tests are any indication, isnt likelyhell be friendless for the foreseeable future.Nobodys more surprised than Dave when Marlon Wellings sticks up for him in the school cafeteria. Mars a loner from the public housing project on the corner of Daves own gentrifying block, and he confounds Daves assumptions about black culture: Hes nerdy and neurotic, a Celtics obsessive whose favorite player is the gawky, white Larry Bird. Before long, Mars coming over to Daves house every afternoon to watch vintage basketball tapes and plot their hustle to Harvard. But as Dave welcomes his new best friend into his world, he realizes how little he knows about Mars. Cracks gradually form in their relationship, and Dave starts to become aware of the breaks hes been givenand that Mar has not."-Amazon