Price, Charlie. Desert Angel.

Price, Charlie.   Desert Angel.  Farrar Strauss see Macmillan Children's Pub Group,  2011.  236p.  $16.99   ISBN 978-0-374-31775-1     jr/sr E-BN  Realistic Fiction 

 Angel knows that she cannot stop running, because if she does, Scotty will catch up to her and try to  kill her. She believes she is at the end of her rope, when she gets help from the most unlikely place and unexpected group of people.  Angel lived with her mom, who was one of those women who believed she was no one unless she was with a man. Unfortunately the men she was attracted to were always men who abused her. Scotty was the worst of them. The fights were terrible and Angel sometimes had to go and sleep outside under the stars to get some rest. Now things have gotten out of control and Angel’s mom is dead. She found the grave. That frightens her because she knows Scotty will not let her live to tell anyone about it. That is when she runs for her life, with Scotty just one step behind her.
     Just when Angel feels like giving up and thinks about ending it herself, she encounters a group of people who are willing to risk their lives for her. This is new to Angel, who has no one; and even when she had her mom, Angel never came first in her mother’s life.
     This exciting, sit-on-the-edge-of your-seat novel will keep you reading until the very end. You can feel the pain this young teenager goes through and the loneliness she feels at losing her mother in the violent way she did.  The villain is so evil that the anxiety you feel waiting to see what happens just blows your mind.  This is an excellent novel about domestic abuse, rape, illegal immigrants and teens.                 

Subjects: Survival - Violence - Domestic Abuse - Mexican Americans -- Fiction

Magna Diaz

 

Lynch, Janet Nichols Addicted to Her

Lynch, Janet Nichols Addicted to Her
Holiday House 2010 220p 17.95
978-0-8234-2186-2 jr/sr Multicultural E-BN
Monique is just beautiful and in Rafa’s eyes she can do no wrong. She is an angel...but she has a side that even if he does not want to recognize it, he finds it disconcerting. Then as much in love as he is, he begins to see things he does not like but still believes he can overcome them or can he? Rafa is good at wrestling if not one of the best on his team. His best friends believe he can achieve a scholarship if he continues his winning style. Then Monique, only the most beautiful girl in the world, looks at him and notices him. For Rafa this is a dream come true. Although Monique has a boyfriend, their relationship is kind of violent and Rafa happens to be there the day they have a very ugly fight. He offer his shoulder for her to cry on and she willing takes his comfort.
Rafa is in seventh heaven with his new girlfriend but this new relationship is taking up all his time. Now he barely makes it to wrestling practice and one day he decides to just skip out completely. Then he forget to pick up his little sister after school. Next he resorts to lying to his mom about his grades, his wrestling practice and his reasons for coming home late. Monique fills every minute of his life. If only her ex-boyfriend would leave her alone.
Life begins to crumble for Rafa, his sister is angry at him, his friends will not give him the time of day and his beloved girlfriend is beginning to demand too much of his time and his little brother is on the road to trouble.
Then Rafa’s family is hit with a tragic event that changes everything for everyone, placing Rafa at the head of his family with responsibilities he has never had to shoulder before. In his mind he has to rethink his priorities in his life and choosing the right path is not the same as choosing his immediate happiness. He realizes that to sacrifice some things, he might be able to rethink his choices and hurt less people even if it means losing the one thing he has wanted for a long time. Diaz, Magna

Elkeles, Simone. Rules of Attraction

Elkeles, Simone. Rules of Attraction
Walker & Co 2010 326p 16.99
978-0-8027-2085-6 hs Multicultural E-BN

Carlos is remanded to live with a college professor and his family after being set up in a drug search at high school. Carlos, a bit of a smart aleck and no fan of rules, learns about love as he falls for the daughter of the professor. A feel good novel. Grades 8-12.
A sequel to Perfect Chemistry, that is similar in theme. Carlos, a Mexican American, living with his brother Alex in Colorado Springs misses his gang friends in Chicago, Carlos is dismayed when he is set up during a drug search at school by a drug dealer who has merged his drug operation with the Chicago gang. Because Carlos won’t snitch, he is remanded to live with a college professor, his wife and two children, ever mindful that the drug dealer will extract a payment from Carlos. Carlos, never a fan of rules, has a hard time settling into the professor’s family life. He and Kiara, also a high school student, butt heads over almost everything. Carlos tries to stay tough, but finds himself warming up to the unconditional love of the parents. Told in alternating chapters between Carlos and Kiara, there is humor, playful insults, and finally a realization by Kiara that Carlos is really a good guy under his bravado and machismo. Love between them blossoms through a set of challenges that they throw at each other. An insightful look at the life of a troubled Mexican American who is placed in an affluent white household. The ending is rip-roaring dangerous. Great feel good reading. Grades 8-12.
Strongly recommended where Perfect Chemistry was popular. Insightful look at the life of a troubled Mexican American who is placed in an affluent white household. A truly feel good story that will be requested by girls in grades 8-12. McNicol,Lois