When I Was The Greatest, is a wonderful book about how the protagonist, Ali and his two best friends, Noodles and Needles, living in a neighborhood. They spend many adventures together, each time strengthening the trio of friends. The protagonist matures from beginning to end in the sense that he stood up to grown men to protect Needles. He also takes care of his little sister when no one stays home and also when their mom arrives. Most importantly, he learned about forgiving and understanding the meaning of friendship. Over time, Ali learns the importance of friendship and loyalty.

When the dream party turns into a nightmare of bloody fists, Needles protects his brother from his attackers. He is overthrown by the adults and almost beat to death. Ali rushes to the scene of the fight and becomes horrified when he sees the victim, “All of a sudden, my legs felt funny. I felt like I was going to pass out” (Reynolds page 141). He jumps into the fight and saves Needles as they run away from the house. When he first met Needles, he had no idea why he acted the way he did; but as time went on, he learned to accept it and help him whenever the chance came. He grew up not only as a friend but also as a part of his family.

Starting the novel, Jazz was the one always doing everything around the house. Jazz is Ali's little sister, and as soon as she wakes up, she makes the family breakfast. When Ali's dad leaves the house to stop the men who want to kill his son, Ali takes business at home by cleaning up and taking care of his sister, not letting anything negative get into her mind. He comforts her when she is asleep and tries to keep her happy by watching her annoying shows, which in the end he seems to enjoy. After all the matters are finished, Ali and Noodles speak to each other again. They had not spoken since the night of the party.

As the duo walk the shopping cart Ali's mom left them in charge of returning, they talk about their friendship. Ali acknowledges that when he heard the reason why Noodles was so hard on his brother, he grew violent energy inside. “I still couldn’t find anything nice to say to Noodles to make him feel better, though. There was no hug in me-he had emptied me out” (Reynolds page 158). Ali understands why Noodles acts the way he did and he forgives him. Shortly before, Noodles had cried and begged his apologies to his brother when he had an attack like the ones he has; like the one he had that caused the fight. Forgiving his friend and understanding his situation made Ali grow more than in any other way from the start to the end of the book.

By pushing back the men that almost killed his best friend, taking his family seriously and caring for them when the time needs it, and forgiving and remaining loyal to his friends, Ali changed drastically from beginning to end. Through the actions portrayed by Jason Reynolds, Ali bonded with the other characters exceptionally well. In fact, so well, I still have a picture in my mind of all the protagonists sitting together on the stoop of Ali's apartment. Through all the tough times and troubles, Ali matured and realized, friendship and maturity cannot be measured with action but by the engraving bonds of brotherhood.