In well-crafted prose, Ferrum author Charles Shea LeMone has created a vividly colorful world out of the predominantly black neighborhoods that are the setting for his novel, "Corner Pride," set in the 1950s in gang-torn North Philadelphia.

Through the eyes of Barry Brown, a young man who boxes to survive, and James Wylie, a boy with a fiercely protective, proactive mother and gentle dad, the story of a neighborhood corner comes to life. Innocence and fear, yearnings and dreams, sweet love and violent abuse mix together, in a neighborhood torn by rivalries, with children learning to make it in a hostile world and parents pray, sob or drink behind closed curtains.

The stories meld into a collage of hopes, anxieties and dreams. Physical strength, common sense and street smarts are portrayed through the people whose lives spill out across the pages. The underlying theme of "the fight," whether it be on a street corner in the dark, or between a boy and girl, conveys the idea that obstacles must be faced one way or another.

It is sociology, memoir and philosophy spun into a novel to be treasured and shared.