Efrain's Secret
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Ambitious high school senior Efrain Rodriguez dreams of escaping the South Bronx for an Ivy League college like Harvard or Yale. But how is his family going to afford to pay for a prestigious university when Moms has to work insane hours to put food on the table as it is? And Efrain wouldn’t dare ask that good-for-nothing father of his who has traded his family in for younger models. Left with few options, Efrain chooses to do something he never thought he would. He embarks on a double life—honor student by day, drug peddler at night—convinced that by temporarily capitulating to society’s negative expectations of a boy like him, he can eventually defy them.
Sofia Quintero makes a stunning debut writing for young adults with this gritty, complex, and real exploration of the life of an urban teen whose attempt to leave one world behind for a better one could cost him everything.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Adult author Quintero (Divas Don't Yield) delivers an in-your-face YA debut, a passionate polemic on racial politics in urban America. Couched in an explosive morality tale, the story is narrated by a driven high school senior in the South Bronx with the odds stacked against him ( ...although I'm very smart, I'm too brown and too poor. In other words, I could never be smart enough ). To raise money for an Ivy League education, Efrain resorts to selling drugs ( I'm tired of being the good boy who never has anything to show for it.... Doing the right thing is supposed to be its own reward, but that's not enough to pay my tuition ). His efforts to justify his choice, understand his actions, and come to terms with myriad unforeseen consequences especially after he gets caught are felt on every page. Relevant SAT vocabulary words (like pittance and apprehend ) begin each chapter, and seamlessly interwoven subplots, including Efrain's complex connection to his philandering father and his evolving relationship with Candace, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina, make the story that much more emotionally resonant. Ages 12 up.
