Language: PG (6 swears, 0 ‘f’) Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.
MS - OPTIONAL
12yo Lolly has recently lost his brother to gang violence. He is having a hard time with everything: His brother’s empty bed in his room is a constant reminder, the punks on 125th street are always stealing his stuff and the director of the after school program he attends wants Lolly to talk about his brother’s death. When Lolly’s mom’s girlfriend starts bring bags of Legos home from her work, Lolly loses himself and his problems in the building, and starts to find an escape.
There was a lot in this book - maybe too much - gay mom, absent father, brother’s death, gang pressure, dangerous streets, friend problems, legos, an autistic girl, a coyote in the park - some of the side stories went nowhere. This debut novel was a good read, but so similar to other books out this year. It’s appropriate for middle school, even with the gang violence which isn’t graphic. There was no plot related purpose for the boy body parts talk (the mature content).
Lisa Librarian
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