Junebug

A boy. A birthday. A dream of a better life far, far away.
Some of the stuff that goes on in the Auburn Street Projects, I'm never gonna do.
These projects are like some kind of never-never land, like they never got put on a regular map. Nobody comes around here on purpose. It's as if we all got lost, right in the middle of the city.
Reeve McClain, Jr.—Junebug—has decided to skip his birthday. Since ten is the age when boys in the projects are forced to join gangs or are ensnared by drug dealers, Junebug would rather remain nine. Still, he does have a birthday wish: to someday become
a ship's captain and sail away. So Junebug comes up with a plan to launch a flotilla, fifty glass bottles containing notes with his wish, in the hope that someone somewhere will help to make his dream come true.
“A warm and inspiring tale … Readers will be rooting for Junebug and his dreams all the way.”—Kirkus Reviews