Muchacho »

LouAnne Johnson is a former U.S. Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer, high school teacher, and the author of the New York Times bestseller Dangerous Minds. She drew on her experience working with teens to craft this novel. Like Eddie, she lives in New Mexico.

An inspiring YA debut from the author of Dangerous Minds.

Eddie Corazon is angry. He’s also very smart. But he’s working pretty hard at being a juvenile delinquent. He blows off school, even though he’s a secret reader. He hangs with his cousins, who will always back him up—when they aren’t in jail.

Then along comes Lupe, who makes his blood race. She sees something in Eddie he doesn’t even see in himself. A heart, and a mind, and something more: a poet. But in Eddie’s world, it’s a thin line between tragedy and glory. And what goes down is entirely in Eddie’s hands.

Gripping, thought-provoking, and hopeful, Muchacho is a rare and inspiring story about one teen’s determination to fight his circumstances and shape his own destiny.

Children's Literature

Written in the voice of a young, male Hispanic in contemporary New Mexico, this is the second book by the author of Dangerous Minds, a high school story which inspired the movie of the same name. Here we follow the story of Eddie Corazon, student in the Bright Horizons alternative school. Eddie is a smart kid who lives surrounded by an extended family, some of whom have tried to make a living in the nether world of illegal drugs and petty theft. But Eddie is very aware of the dangers of that lifestyle and although he loves his family, he also knows the dead end that such a lifestyle offers. A real step in turning his life away from the easy money of illegal activities comes when he is attracted to Lupe Garcia. Lupe has transferred into Bright Horizons, but is not the typical school student; she likes school, she likes to read, she has plans for her life. Lupe opens up a new world of possibility for Eddie until a car accident has Mr. Garcia forbidding his daughter to see Eddie and Eddie's father sends him to live with his uncle in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. There Eddie is able to start fresh as the smart kid Eduardo, who writes poetry and reads at a local coffeehouse. But the past is never too far away. The narrative moves back and forth with flashbacks filling in the stories of family members and classmates. The language is adult, as are the situations, reflecting the tough, gritty world that these high school students inhabit. Miss Beecher, the young teacher who tried to make a difference in the lives of these kids, is a touchstone for Eddie as his life moves forward toward adulthood. This is a novel that provides young adults with much to think about—sex, violence,illegal activities and, ultimately, what it takes to move beyond your environment to become your own person. Reviewer: Janis Flint-Ferguson