DJ Rising

I recently started reading a book called DJ Rising, a book about a teen who live a pretty harsh life working everyday after school washing dishes and stuff to get money, so he and his drug-addict mother won't stay homeless. But his real dream is to become a DJ, a real DJ, playing for very famous clubs and getting paid lots of money to do it.
         This book actually reminds me of the movie 8 Mile, a story of Eminem's hard childhood and how he grew up to become a rapper. Marley, the main character in the book, and the character of Eminem in the movie seem to have a lot in common. Marley's dad died years ago, and Eminem's dad left him and his mom when he was little. Both of them don't have the most loving moms, either. And they both have a dream they are trying to fulfill; Marley wants to be come a professional DJ, and Eminem wanted to become a professional rapper, and they both get through it with the help of their goofy, but supportive, best friends. That's a lot of things in common, right?
        The only thing that I don't really like that much about this book, or that I think is weird, is that there isn't really any major conflict in the book. If you take away the fact that his mom's just sitting in front of the TV everyday like a couch potato with her "loser" boyfriend that's only there to keep her company, eat all the food, and help her take shots of heroin. But Marley already found a good gig at a club pretty early in the book, and no one ever said he sucked, and he never messed up once. It's almost like life just keeps on getting
better for him with barely any obstacles in the way.