In 10 years, Sharon Flake had published six award-winning books, mostly for teens. Writing came naturally to her, as did the stories about young African-American girls and boys facing challenges in navigating their teenage years.

Then she developed writer’s block.

“It was the first time I ever had writer’s block. I had it bad,” Flake said in a recent interview from her Pittsburgh home. “I was thinking that I had lost my gift,” she said.

So she put aside the book she was trying to work on, and instead concentrated on writing a book of short stories and poems about the lives of preteen and teenage African-American boys.

The result is “You Don’t Even Know Me” ($16.99), recommended for ages 12 and up, and guaranteed to grab the attention of teenage readers, no matter what their gender or race.

Flake offers readers some candid, riveting portraits of preteen and teenage boys. In several of the stories and poems, she also concentrates on the key but complicated bond between boys and their fathers or stepfathers.

While her stories and poems specifically focus on urban black youths, the book has universal appeal. Her brief, evocative poem titled “Sixteen,” for example, could apply to any 16-year-old boy:

“My ride

Other characters wrestle with dilemmas that, if not necessarily typical, still are variations on the fierce teenage desire for both independence and love, as well as the mistakes teenagers inevitably make as they grow toward maturity.

The tone of “You Don’t Even Know Me” is set by the title poem, which opens the book:

“You know,

I’ve been wondering lately,

Trying to figure out just how it could be

That you can see me so often

And still don’t know a thing about me.”

Flake said her goal was to “take African-American boys out of these boxes we have them in.”

“I’m trying to show their humanity, not just the struggles but also the laughter,” she added. “All of them have an inner core. … I think that we all struggle with moral issues. …We really do all have common ground.”

Flake, 54, was doing public relations at the University of Pittsburgh before her first novel, “The Skin I’m In,” was published in 1998 and won the prestigious Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

Most of her subsequent books — “Money Hungry,” “Begging for Change,” “Bang” and “Who Am I Without Him?” — also are aimed at teens.