We Were Here

As far as I’m concerned this is the best YA book of the year. Three teenagers escape from a juvenile home, steal the home’s petty cash, and try to make their way to Mexico. It is a coming of age story told with a realistic, funny and heartbreaking voice. The characters are very real and likeable, and that just makes seeing them make a string of bad decisions so much harder. This is a book to recommend to both a reluctant boy reader, and a more sophisticated reader looking for something with substance.

Miguel has been sent to a group home for a year after committing a crime that shattered his family. Trying to remain isolated due to his guilt, Miguel starts a journal and eventually escapes from the home with his housemates, simple-minded Rondell and violent, mysterious Mong. Their plan to get to Mexico quickly falls apart and they begin traveling the coast of California, trying to figure out where they can go.

I liked the main character Miguel. His voice felt realistic and believable, although not all the events in the novel did. Unfortunately, Rondell was a bit of a magic black person figure rather than a character, which took away from the story, and Miguel's crime was not revealed until the very end, although it was pretty easy to show more guess. Matt de la Pena is a talented writer working with unusual subject matter and characters, and I would like to see him tackle something a bit more gritty and unpredictable. show less

This book is presented as the first-person journal of teenaged Miguel Castaneda, who has been court ordered to write this journal and live in a group home for a year. Things quickly go from bad to worse when Miguel and two other residents at the group home decide to make a break for Mexico and a new life. Along the way, Miguel learns a lot about his accomplices, Rondell and Mong, and begins to process and deal with what he has done. The book is well written, using believable colloquialisms, interesting characters, and a lot of action. It is however, rather gritty and intense, so it is not for the faint of heart.

Miguel's life wasn't so bad before what he did. His crime landed him in juvi and then a group home, where he knows he doesn't fit in. Sentenced to write in a journal, Miguel chronicles the events and people surrounding him, including his ex-roommate from Juvi, Darnell and Mong, a kid too crazy to think twice about killing you, if he felt like it. What Miguel never could have expected was that Mong and Darnell would convince him to run away from the group home in an attempt to start over in Mexico. The trip that ensues is an unexpected story of friendship and redemption. WE WERE HERE is one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching books I've read, and it is not one you want to miss.

What Miguel did was so terrible he can't talk about it. he can't tell anyone what he did. As far as he is concerned, nothing he does matters. His life is meaningless. His punishment--sentencing to a group home for 1 year and writing a journal--is light. he just plans to do his time and avoid connections with anyone. That is, until Mong, the "psycho", ultra-violent resident of the group home asks him to escape together. Miguel, Mong, and another resident, Rondell, begin a journey down California's coast to Mexico, where they learn about friendship, loyalty and courage, and where Miguel finds the inner resources to make peace with himself.

teen fiction; crime-related trauma/group homes. I couldn't get the vernacular to sound right in my head, but (from what little I read) the characters seemed compelling enough to keep the attention of kids that like these kinds of stories.

Great read for HS boys-some rough situations, but positive message.