David Hernandez (1) (1971–)

I liked this story but felt it had a lot of loose ends. Major plot points in most of the characters' lives were left incomplete. I suppose you could say that's realistic -- life is full of loose ends -- but it left me frustrated. What ultimately happened to Snake? What happened with Will and his girlfriend? And Vanessa, what happened at her old school that made her leave? You never found out.

Done properly, that kind of ambiguity can be a great literary device, but it's very hard to do and, show more in my opinion, the author couldn't make it work. Nevertheless this is a good novel with genuine friendships, which I would recommend. show less

First, the good stuff: [a:David Hernandez|383634|David Hernandez|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] packs a lot of powerful emotion per page in this novel, and his main character, Marcus, is a wonderful mix of reliable enough for me to trust him as a narrator, but imperfect enough to relate to. Also, this is one of those rare YA novels that I think would resonate with teenage boys, especially if they're Hispanic. Hernandez manages to honor the traits of a Hispanic show more family in the US without digressing into the preachy-ness that is so typical of "multicultural" children's books.Second, the not-so-good stuff: some of the plot felt kind of tacked-on for the sake of moving things forward instead of growing out of the story. The worst part of the book, no quotation marks. Trying to read a dialogue-heavy book without quotation marks=pain in the butt. show less

Clear-eyed and almost deadpan, this tale of how tragedy affects a few teenagers is really involving. The only real problem I had with it is that Carlos and Isabel's alternating chapters spoke in a very similar voice, and I had to depend on context or flip back to the beginning of the chapter to see who was speaking. I think Hernandez captures late adolescence vividly and with a remarkable clarity of vision. Nicely done.

Marcus is happy. His father who hits his (not-so) little brother Enrique has finally left home. Marcus has to help out more and money is tight but he is happier without him. Evenso, Marcus' life is not all good: he keeps wondering if he should have done more to protect his brother -- the same brother who is now dating the girl Marcus likes. Enrique and Marcus decide to confront their violent father and give him a taste of his own medicine with a (fake) gun. But the trip and confrontation show more play out in ways they never expected.

Excellent YA fodder; strong male Latino voice, great dialogue, good pacing. Adult language (lots of f bombs), sexual situations, drug use.. good for mature readers, esp. boys. show less