The first thing you learn living in Nickerson Gardens is how to make yourself small.
Jesse Fallon is twelve years old, skinny as a stray dog, wearing a Black Flag t-shirt three days straight because it's the only clean thing he owns. His brother Shane—eighteen, shaved head, denim jacket covered in band patches—walks him home from school every day, because being white in Nickerson doesn't make you special. It makes you a target.
In the concrete maze of South Central LA, where the Bloods run everything and their junkie parents can barely function, Jesse and Shane have only each other. But when Jesse discovers the punk scene exploding across Los Angeles, he finds something more than music—he finds a reason to survive.
From the burning streets of Watts to the legendary clubs of Hollywood, "Broken Chords" is a brutal, tender coming-of-age story about brotherhood, survival, and the power of punk rock to save a life. Nick Razer delivers his most visceral novel yet—a love letter to the outsiders who found family in the mosh pit.