Bookverdict.com

Gr 6–10—Fourteen-year-old Evelyn Serrano lives in Spanish Harlem in 1969. Everything about her mother bothers her, from the woman's decorations to her "beggy" tone and slavish ways. When Evelyn's grandmother moves in with them, the three generations clash. Abuela is a patriota-an activist who supported the Puerto Rican nationalist movement in the 1930s, and who left her daughter to be raised by relatives. Evelyn's mother works every day with her husband, Evelyn's stepfather, in thei...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Set in the summer of 1969, Manzano’s solid first novel deals with the political and cultural awakening of fourteen-year-old Rosa María Evelyn del Carmen Serrano, who tells us straight off that she prefers to be called Evelyn because “El Barrio, Spanish Harlem, U.S.A., did not need another Rosa, María, or Carmen.” She’s not particularly happy with her life: her best friend has dropped her, her mother embarrasses her, and she hates the stench of overflowing garbage cans in her neighborhood. To make things worse, she h...Log In or Sign Up to Read More