A Shadow Like a Leopard

By Myron Levoy

Book Overview

Ramon Santiago, a fourteen-year-old street kid and poet, records his thoughts in a notebook. He is skilled with words and skilled with his knife, when needed. Alone, he wants to join a street gang to be macho, but to prove himself, he must rob an elderly artist down on his luck, Arnold Glasser. Glasser, as desperate as Ramon, is unafraid of Ramon's knife.

From their mutual pain, an unorthodox friendship grows between them. But the gang is just a step behind Ramon, demanding loyalty above all else.

"Grit, suspense, warmth, and wry humor."-Kirkus Reviews

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595093558
• ISBN13: 9780595093557
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.7" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Shadow like a leopard can inspire young and old alike.

What a great story it can speak to the young and old about art, respecting your elders, and the all to often reclusive forgotten artists.

A shadow like a leopard

I like 'a shadow like a leopard' because it tells you what the streets of New York are really about. Ramon Santiago is a 14 year old boy and yet keeps a knife in pocket. He is helpless without his knife. Ramon who is trys to get into Harpos gang wants to be a macho. His father who is in jail for fighting for the freedom of Puerto Rico always told him to be a man. Now Ramon wants to make him proud by being in Harpos gang. Until Harpo tells him he has to steal money from an artist Glasser. Glasser inspires Ramon to follow his dream. It was a very sad book and made me cry, because Ramon doesn't have anyone yet Glasser and him build a very good friendship.