My school librarian sent me home with Muchacho by Louanne Johnson as a bonus read for my Winter Break. Louanne Johnson also wrote "My Posse Don't Do Homework," which was the book turned into the movie Dangerous Minds. Johnson taught high school English before writing full-time and traveling.
I had no idea what to think about Muchacho until I finished the book since I'd only been told that it was supposed to be good.
Muchacho is about a young man named Eduardo (Eddie) Corazon. Eddie tells a disjointed story about his realization that he's actually an intelligent young man, who might even be able to make it out of his rough neighborhood and go on to get an education and make something of himself. Eddie starts to really realize this about himself as he describes how he met his girlfriend, Lupe.
The story jumps around a bit and "Eddie's" language can be a bit distracting (at least to an English teacher) because of "his" grammar.
Eddie keeps finding himself in trouble, but he secret affinity for books keeps him somewhat grounded. Eddie gets into writing poetry because of his enjoyment of reading and because his girlfriend is interested in poetry. After a few boneheaded, but somewhat well-intentioned moves, Eddie gets sent to stay with his refined bachelor uncle. Eddie gets involved with a local poetry reading and he, with the encouragement one of his former English teachers, actually seriously considers attending college.
While the book is heartwarming to English teachers, I can't help but feel that the story felt a bit contrived: lost teen finds reading, reading saves teen, teen becomes productive citizen. It just seemed a little too simplistic for me in that I kept hoping for a good solid, gut-wrenching conflict and I was left with surface level conflicts that barely compelled me to keep reading. I felt the story was written more for gullible, starry-eyed English teachers rather than conflicted teens.
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