The World Is Mine Lyah B. LeFlore DL Warfield

The World Is Mine (Come Up) by Lyah B. LeFlore and DL Warfield

This is LeFlore's YA debut and fourth novel.

Blue Reynolds is a high school junior who dreams of becoming the next big music business mogul. He gets a break early in the novel. While attending a Blackout party with his best friend Colin and their other friend Whiteboy. Blackout parties are popular teen parties that happen once a month. The schools go all out, hiring bands and deejays.

At this particular party the band was late. The packed crowd is unmoved by the hypeman. Blue hits the stage, takes the make and gets the crowd going. When the band finally arrives Blue is ready to chase his dreams. Everything moves pretty quickly after that.

Blue is hired to do his homecoming, soon after Blue Up Productions is born. Set in D.C. Blue wants his company to be the go to for teen parties. Collin, the best friend is right by Blue's side, keeping him grounded. Blue and Collin have a lot of common. Their dad's want them to follow in their footsteps and become lawyers.

Tre is a 15 yr old conscious rapper with skills. Blue wants him to be the first Blue Up Productions artist. Mamie is a deejay who goes by the name DJ Ill Mama. It's hard for a female DJ, Mamie is hoping Blue Up Productions will give her, a big break.

Mamie after an argument with her aunt.

"I placed my headphones over my ears and dropped the needle on the wax, the rock and roll classic Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. Then I mixed in some classic hip hop and R&B with Mary J Blige's No More Drama. That's exactly what I needed in my life right now - no more drama! All I needed was two turntables and a mic in my hand to feel better."

The chapters alternate (with smooth transitions) between six major characters. Every thing seemed to happen pretty quickly for Blue but Leflore's created likeable characters that made me want to keep reading. The World is Mine was a very enjoyable and entertaining read.

The World is Mine is illustrated by DL Warfield. In 2000 he started a company called Goldfinger. Some of his clients include Nike Sprite, Geffen Records, Sony Music, Nordstrom and Adidas. The illustrations (mainly the characters) are found at the beginning of the chapters. Having someone tell me what the characters look like didn't distract or add to the story.

After reading Warfield's bio, I wished he was utilized more. It seems kind of a waste to use Warfield mainly to illustrate the characters. I am not a visual reader so this would work fine text only. Though if there's going to be illustrations Warfield should be allowed to contribute.

I am happy LeFlore has decided to write YA, its nice to see something thats not only different but good. Ages 14up

Read an excerpt - At the table of contents scroll down to chapter one and enjoy.