Description

Do or Die is the first insider account of teenage gangs--the lives, loves, and battles of children who kill--from the only journalist ever allowed inside this closed and dangerous world.

This is no West Side Story. Welcome to a world where teenagers wear colostomy bags and have scrapbooks filled with funeral invitations; where a young man, after being shot in the chest, drives himself to the hospital; where another youngster, caught in crossfire, uses his girlfriend as a human shield; where teenage gangsters are kidnapped, tortured, and held for six-figure ransoms; where kids hum the latest movie's theme music while killing people. It's a world of clickheads, sherms, bangers, ballers, and mummyheads; a world where the strongest feelings of family come from other gang members; a world where the most potent feelings of self-worth come from murder.

Praise For…

"Poignant." — New York Times

"Fascinating and frightening." — Los Angeles Times

"Ambitious and provocative." — Chicago Tribune

"The testimonies Bing elicits are always fascinating as she lets gang members speak for themselves and at length, weaving together their stories with scene-setting narrative that reveals her deep caring for these violent youths." — Houston Chronicle

"A powerful portrait of life on the streets." — Vogue

"Bing is a reporter of remarkable vividness and subtlety ... passionately objective . . . a remarkable, compellingly readable piece of reporting." — Entertainment Weekly

"Shocking." — San Francisco Chronicle

"The most vivid and insightful investigation any reporter has made into gang life. This is the human face behind the tragic headlines, a sad, honestly reported story of kids at war with themselves." — Digby Diehl, Playboy