Righteous anger, heartache, and desperation transform 17-year-old Francisco from a half-hearted student who's more interested in pick-up soccer games than academics into a young man who realizes that education provides the only opportunity to rescue his family from an unjust political system. Set in 1999 Bolivia, the story quickly establishes the implicit social prejudices infiltrating Francisco's country: "Light-skinned mestizos work in the banks.... Dark-skinned Aymaras and Quechuas work in the cancha and the fields and the mines. And then there's me, stuck somewhere in between." When the authorities imprison Francisco's taxi-driver father for running out of gas, his mother, assessing the situation as hopeless, abandons him and his sister to the dangerous prison. Although still rebellious, Francisco is inspired by his father's unwavering hopes for his children's future, and their renewed communications through poetry leaves him determined to seize any opportunity to help his family. Crowder (Audacity) delivers a disturbing portrait of innocent families trapped in corrupt systems, as well as a testament to the strength of enduring cultural traditions and the possibility of finding family in the unlikeliest places. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (June)

Gr 7 Up—Seventeen-year-old Francisco wears violent anger just under his skin, despite a tranquil life with his parents and eight-year-old sister in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1999. He and his family are irrevocably affected by Law 1008, a statute initiated in response to U.S. threats of economic sanctions, which seeks to find and imprison individuals connected to coca production. Francisco's father, a taxi driver, is arrested while taking gasoline to his stopped car, charged with the intention of making cocaine with the gas, and placed in an overcrowded, dangerous men's prison. His mother visits with the children and without warning deserts them there, leaving Francisco feeling gutted. He assumes the role of primary caregiver for his sister, transporting her to and from school and the prison where they must now live. Always at odds with his father over his studies and future goals, Francisco promises to graduate from high school to give the man some hope, despite knowing that his own dark skin and short stature seal his fate in a stratified Bolivian society where the indigenous remain poor and victimized. Themes of poverty, social injustice based on ethnicity, violence toward women, coming-of-age, romantic love, and a sliver of precarious hope are woven into the plot. VERDICT This poetic, historical novel is an important addition to libraries given its focus on the consequences of U.S. involvement in Bolivian politics.—Ruth Quiroa, National Louis University, Lisle, IL