Pérez, Celia C. (2017). The First Rule of Punk. New York: Viking/Penguin Random House.
[Twelve year old, Mexican American, zine-creating María Luisa
– who goes by Malú – must move from Florida to Chicago for two years when her
mom gets a temporary job there, sad that she must leave behind her father (her
parents are divorced) and his music store.
Always having felt more of a connection to her father’s punk music
influence than her mother’s Mexican heritage, Malú feels a bit out of touch
with the primarily Latinx neighborhood and school in which she now finds
herself, but when the makeshift band that Malú forms with some schoolmates
doesn’t get chosen to be in the school talent show because the school wants it
to reflect tradition, Malú and the Cocos (the band’s name) decide to have their
own Alterna-Fiesta Talent Show and play a punked-up version of the Mexican
classic “Cielito Lindo”. The singularly-focused
and uncluttered narrative is briskly paced and thoroughly engaging, featuring
Malú’s likeable voice which often sounds like you are reading excerpts directly
from her journal. By the end, Malú has
learned the value of her heritage by interacting with her new neighbors and
classmates, and is able to integrate both sides/identities of her parents when
she begins to connect with her Mexican heritage through its music. Reproductions
of Malu’s multi-page zines provide interludes between select chapters, and serve
to provide further explanation on topics such as the slur “coconut”, Calaveras,
and dyeing your hair.]
STARTED:
Alexander, Kwame. (2017). Solo. New York: Blink/HarperCollins.
[.]
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