I read this book in my teens, and had the pleasure to meet the author. I was reminded about it today posting on an american forum about young people and violence.

Run Baby Run is the early life of Nicky Cruz living in the slums of New York as a gang member.

'Nicky was only 3-1/2 years old when his heart turned to stone. As one of 18 children born to witchcraft-practicing parents from Puerto Rico, bloodshed and mayhem were common occurrences in his life. He suffered severe physical and mental abuse at their hands, at one time being declared the "Son of Satan" by his mother while she was in a spiritual trance.

When he was 15, Nicky's father sent him to visit an older brother in New York. Nicky didn't stay with his brother long. Instead, full of anger and rage, he chose to make it on his own. Tough, but lonely, by age 16 he became a member of the notorious Brooklyn street gang known as the Mau Maus (named after a bloodthirsty African tribe). Within six months he became their president. Cruz fearlessly ruled the streets as warlord of one of the gangs most dreaded by rivals and police. Lost in the cycle of drugs, alcohol, and brutal violence, his life took a tragic turn for the worse after a friend and fellow gang member was horribly stabbed and beaten and died in Nicky's arms.'
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The autobiography is brutal and honest and has a message for those trapped in violence and gangs now as it did when he was a youth in the late 50s.

sounds a good book for me to recommend to some of my students, thanks George

One of the most powerful messages of the book is that it is possible to walk away from such a life.

Excellent book! - i read it in my teens too.

An amazing man is Nicky. Who had his life turned around and in doing so was able to help many others do like wise.

The kind of book which made a real impression on me way back then...

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I too read it in my teens - must reread I think!

do you remember The Cross and the Switchblade and God's Smuggler. 2 more books from my teen years which had an impact then.

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