They were called the Back Alley Boys and best define the North Side of Syracuse, New York during the '50s and '60s. Although not as legendary as the "Dead End Kids" portrayed in the movies of the 1930s, they had their own flare for drama. But North Side story is not just a story about growing up on the North Side in the '50s and '60s. It is also a story of a changing neighborhood. Names like Stretch, Axle, Scams, and Boogers are now gone. Today the North Side residents have names like Cuong, Danh, and Ai'. Just as the immigrant grandparents of the Back Alley Boys had once struggled to come to this country, so did the Vietnamese "boatpeople." North Side story is their story as well.

Northside Story, rich with affirmations and positive analogies that exist between nature and humanity, may help children cope with the struggles in their own lives. Northside Story is a unique twist on a timeless love story about two kids from opposite sides of the tracks. One is manor-raised on the south side, and the other struggles daily for survival on the north side of the gardener's shed. Nature provides the characters and the setting, which allows young children their first opportunity to understand life's issues through the great outdoors. It offers them perspectives that can enhance their feelings of confidence and well-being. I?ve used flowers and weeds and the landscape to teach lessons about love and acceptance. The story strives to introduce them to Pandora's final gift?hope.