November 2, 2009
When Miguel, a high school student from Stockton, Calif.—“where every other person you meet has missing teeth or is leaning against a liquor store wall begging for change to buy beer”—commits an undisclosed crime, he is sentenced to a year in juvenile hall. Despite the efforts of his counselor (who constantly calls him “bro”), a despondent Miguel suffers alone at the group home, reading and scribbling in his journal; his entries provide the novel's narrative. When Mong, a violent fellow resident, plans an escape to Mexico, Miguel and his roommate, Rondell, join him on a tumultuous journey through Southern California and slowly become friends, as Miguel struggles to come to terms with the events that have brought him to this point (“Nah, man, there ain't no such thing as peace no more. That shit's dead and buried”). Miguel's raw yet reflective journal entries give Peña's (Mexican WhiteBoy
) coming-of-age story an immersive authenticity and forceful voice. The suspense surrounding the boys' survival and the mystery of Miguel's crime result in a furiously paced and gripping novel. Ages 14–up.
December 1, 2009
Gr 9 Up-Miguel struggles to forgive himself for a tragic event that changed his life and his family forever. He willingly accepts his one-year sentence to a juvenile detention center and the requirement that he keep a journal. De La Peña uses the conceit of the journal to tell the story in Miguel's words. At the center, Miguel befriends Rondell, a mentally challenged teen prone to violent outbursts, and Mong, a troubled boy with myriad physical and emotional problems. Mong organizes an escape, and with little apparent thought, Miguel and Rondell agree to join him. The boys' convoluted travels take them up and down the California coast and are recorded in Miguel's journal, along with his personal journey of self-discovery. It is frustrating that the salient event, the one that led to Miguel's incarceration, is kept from readers, and most other characters, until the end of the book. Once the truth of what happened is exposed, it is difficult to comprehend the callousness shown to Miguel by other family members; in fact, readers may question why he was imprisoned at all. The premise of juvenile delinquents on the run, camping out, and trying to survive and to find themselves will appeal to teens, but the story is just too drawn out to hold the interest of most of them."Patricia N. McClune, Conestoga Valley High School, Lancaster, PA"
Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2009
Grades 7-12 After being sentenced to a year in a California group home, Miguel Casteeda, 16, breaks out with two other teens, Mong and Rondell. Together, they try to cross the border to Mexico, and Miguel writes in his journal about their journey. His colloquial narrative, laced with insults (but not obscenities), is fast, funny, smart, and heartbreaking as he describes how the three homeless runaways steal, hide, work, fight, bond, and care for each other. Unlike his mates, Miguel is an avid reader, and with the account of their daily struggle, he weaves in references to classics. There may be too much detail for some, but the contemporary survival adventure will keep readers hooked, as will the tension that builds from the storys secrets. What did Miguel do that landed him in the group home? Why wont his mother talk to him? The riveting climax shows, without a heavy message, that the heros journey is a search for himself.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2010
Miguel is sentenced to a group home for his crime (under wraps until story's end). Weary of the setting, he and two housemates break out. As the colorful trio journeys through California, wary distrust gives way to true friendship. Miguel's narrative voice coupled with de la Pena's natural storytelling gifts more than compensate for the occasional glitches in plotting and characterization.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
November 1, 2009
A judge has sentenced Miguel to a group home for his crime, and he is also required to keep a journal -- this novel -- to chronicle his thoughts and feelings. It doesn't take long for Miguel to weary of the group home in San Jose, and so he and two other housemates, Rondell and Mong, break out with plans to flee to Mexico and live on the beach. Rondell is physically imposing, learning disabled, and deeply religious. Mong is deceptively smart but psychotic and given to wild mood swings. Miguel is streetwise, but sensitive and guilt-ridden. As this colorful trio journeys through California, wary distrust gives way to true friendship, but even as Miguel learns of the other boys' troubled pasts, he keeps his own under wraps until the very end. It's an effective if manipulative ploy, one that keeps readers turning the pages to learn Miguel's ultimate secret; when they do, they may find the punishment too harsh for the crime. Nevertheless, Miguel's narrative voice coupled with de la Pena's natural storytelling gifts compensate for the slow pacing and occasional glitches in plotting and characterization.
(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)