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. From the Hardcover edition.
- ISBN: 9780375847066
- Author: Quintero, Sofia
- Published: 2010 , Random House Children's Books
- Themes: Difficult decisions, Drug and alcohol abuse, Social and family issues, violence
- Descriptors: Realistic Fiction, United States, Young Adult (ages 14-18)
- No. of pages: 240
Efrain’s secret emerges from his intense desire to succed and the reality of his family’s poverty. Efrain’s dream is to go to an Ivy League school, but he mistakenly believes he will not qualify for enough funding. He knows he will never be able to save enough money through his after-school tutoring job, so he quits to “sling” with childhood friend, Nestor. As he leads a secret double-life, honor student by day and drug dealer by night, he finds his life spinning out of contol. In an ironic twist, Efrain’s secret costs him the very things he most values: His family, his friends, and his dream of an Ivy League education.