Third and Indiana

Rating:
Summary: Real Philly Streets and Tragedy
Review: Absolutely the way it is. Lopez fused a reporter's eye with a novelists' soul and artistry with no small success. Somewhat awkward stylistically- it feels like a new form- but very slightly diminshed. This is a page turner, a shocker and a fine story.
Realistic art and tragedy- a slam dunk.

Rating:
Summary: Touching and Powerful
Review: Being a kid myself, about Gabriel's age, I found this book absolutely riveting and couldn't put it down until the last page. Although I've never experienced the Philly scene, because I'm from a small town, I really felt the atmosphere of the danger and "survival of the fittest" there. Steve Lopez did an excellent job of communicating to the world the trap young kids can get caught in, where it starts out as fine, but then you keep getting deeper and deeper until you don't know how you got in the first play. The book is tough, yet soft, and I found myself crying at the end... it's a must read book!

Rating:
Summary: A heart-wrenching, eye opener of reality for our youth.
Review: I admit I am not an intellectually well read person, but I have never been so moved by a novel. I am a transplant to Philly and have lived here for a decade. I will never forget this book. By the time it ended, I felt I was living in this world. It made me realize the importance of our children in this world and what we should do to protect their vulnerabilty. It was an eye opener for me to see how easy it is to make a fatal wrong turn. This book will wake you up to reality in our cities. Months after I have read this novel, I still have moments of reflection when I am near this part of town. I wonder how many other children are in the same shoes as Gabriel. Thank you Steve Lopez for this experience.

Rating:
Summary: Aneamia and the blind eye
Review: Steve Lopez paints the most accurate picture of Philadelphia's Kensington section I have ever read. There is no way to candy-coat the truth, but you can depict it with truth, in hopes of bringing some sensativity to the issues. Lopez's portraits are tight and clear. If anyone reading this story is not moved by Ofelia Santoro's search for her son, night after night, I don't know what that person would be affected by. Equally compelling are all of the portrayals of the characters in the story. I, unfortuately, know many of the families of Kensington in circumstances like the Santoros-- and worse! This book is certainly Pulitzer material.

Rating:
Summary: A great and moving story!
Review: This is just a great story with characters you will never forget and told with a genius for dialogue and place. An excellent debut novel. I couldn't put it down and at the end I didn't want it to end. Lopez captures perfectly the essence of life in the "Badlands" and South Philly -- and it was great to read a story set in a city that I know and love. Read this book; you won't regret it.