It Doesn't Have to Be This Way: A Barrio Story/No Tiene Que Ser Asi: Una Historia del Barrio » (Bilingual Edition)

Monchi likes to write poems, hang out with his cousin, and tell stories to his uncle. Then one day, a member of the local gang tells him it's time to join up. Monchi is scared but excited. The older boys give him the handshake, girls talk to him, and even teachers are afraid of him. But when a tragic event changes everything, Monchi must make an important decision. There is no easy answer to his dilemma, but the love and respect of his uncle help him find a way out. Written in both English and Spanish, It Doesn't Have to Be This Way is a compelling tale of a young boy's encounter with the world of gangs.

Publishers Weekly

Monchi, the 10-year-old narrator of Rodr guez's (Am rica Is Her Name) well-intentioned if oversimplified cautionary tale, describes his encounter with a gang. When Clever, Monchi's neighbor and a gang member, announces, "It's about time you joined the Pee Wees," Monchi is gratified that the older boy "wanted to be friends and wasn't going to hurt me." Thus, he accepts the invitation, despite warnings from his older girl cousin, Dreamer: "I used to hang around with Clever and them guys.... I don't like some of the things they do." On the night he is to be "jumped in" (beaten for 60 seconds by fellow gang members) as a rite of initiation, a rival gang shows up with guns and shoots Dreamer, who has come to dissuade her cousin from participating. After Monchi learns that she will live, he decides not to join the gang. Unfortunately, all the episodes in the bilingual story get equal weight (a visit with Monchi's uncle, a conversation with Dreamer about a knife in Monchi's possession, etc.) so that the story never builds to the climax when Dreamer is shot. Similarly, Galvez's portraits are lifelike but fall short of creating tension. For example, in a spread that foreshadows Clever's malevolence, Clever gets lost in the gutter. The message is valuable, but gets muddied in the telling. Eve Bunting's Your Move, illus. by James Ransome, offers a more forceful picture book treatment of the same subject. Ages 6-up. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.