The hallway hangers and the brothers are two very different groups of teenage youth living in a public housing "ghetto". The hallway hangers(hh) are stereotyped as punks,burnouts, and many other such names. They consist of lower class white males and one black. They all do drugs and most dropped out of high school. There outlook on their future is pretty bleak, most figure a shitty job and or prison, maybe even dead. The brothers on the other hand are a group of black males and one white who have a better outlook on the future. The are all in school or have already earned a diploma. The brothers all expect to get good jobs and be successful. After the first chapter I definetly identify with the brothers.