FICTION

CONCRETE CANDY by Apollo (Anchor Books: $9.95; 144 pp.). Two young boys find a unique way to combat racism in their school. An 18-year-old commits a series of brutal acts and pays a terrible price. A crack-addicted teenager tries to fight his need for drugs while working for a neighborhood dealer. These are the subjects of Apollo’s debut collection of short stories, “Concrete Candy.”

Apollo, who is now 16 years old, began writing at 12 and was first published in a literary magazine at 13. His stories are filled with energy, empathy and a kind of earnest polemical quality that is the earmark of a young writer. There is no doubt that Apollo is very talented; however, even the best of these pieces read like, well, a very talented 16-year-old. It is easy to imagine his stories in an anthology, but at this point in his career Apollo’s work isn’t strong enough to successfully carry a collection.

The best stories in “Concrete Candy” have an offbeat, slightly magical feeling that add a unique perspective to Apollo’s descriptions of inner-city life. This is a gifted writer who needs time for his work to mature.