{"product_id":"9781442459489","title":"When I Was the Greatest","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn Bed Stuy, New York, a small misunderstanding can escalate into having a price on your head—even if you’re totally clean. This gritty, triumphant debut that \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003ecalls “a funny and rewarding read” captures the heart and the hardship of life for an urban teen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should've been—where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atheneum Books for Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47054386430192,"sku":"9781442459489","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781442459489_p0.jpg?v=1763806860","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781442459489","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}