TITLE: Muchacho
AUTHOR: Louanne Johnson
PUBLISHER: Knopf Books for Young Readers
PUBLISHED DATE: September 8, 2009
ISBN: 978-0375861178
PAGES: 208 pages
This was a good read that draws you in from the first page.
Eddie Corazon is highly perceptive and gives a scathing depiction of life at his New Mexico high school. He speaks of incompetent teachers, the recruiting methods of drug dealers, and how good teachers get pushed out - like Miss Beecher, who speaks frankly to the kids, and challenges them to learn, and acknowledges both visible and invisible disability - like light sensitivity.
Eddie is filled with so much angst and hostility of it all - his abusive father, his failing school, and his crime infested community - and then he meets Lupe. Beautiful, smart, and not like other girls. The rest of the book is all about whether or not the love of Lupe is redeeming enough for Eddie to rise above his circumstances and make something of himself.
This is a totally absorbing story in a very authentic voice.
Recommendation: Read it!
Audience: Young Adults (Grade 7 and up)
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