Always Running: LA Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book
Review: There has never been a more clear and compelling account of a gang member's life than Always Running. Luis J. Rodriguez's frighteningly vivid chronicle of his youth in Los Angeles in the late 60s and early 70s. Growing up in Watts and East L.A., Rodriguez joined his first gang at age 11 and was drawn into "la vida loca" - the crazy life. Gangs were "how we wove something out of the threads of nothing," he remembered. By the age of 18, he was a veteran of gang warfare, police killings, drug overdoses, and suicides that claimed the lives of 25 of his friends and had driven him and so many others to despair. In part, Rodriguez survived the violence and desperation of his youth by writing down his experiences. Always Running is packed with episode after episode of high drama, but within this honest and powerful depiction of social devastation, there is a father's message of understanding and hope to his son and to thousands like him. Rodriguez's inspiring story should be read by anyone who cares about the future of children in America.

Rating:
Summary: always running
Review: Always running is the powerful, vivid, and brutal autobiography of Luis J. Rodriguez. In his book he talks about the hardships he faced growing up as adolescent in the mid 1950's and 60's, which includes migrating to a new and foreign land (Mexico to the U.S.), gang life, losing loved ones to senseless acts of violence, and eventually breaking free from it all. Although I wasn't too interested in the book at first, it actually ended up touching me quite deeply. First of all I think Luis Rodriguez chose a great title for this book. Sometimes in life when you're scared or afraid you feel like all you can do is run. The problem with running is that once you begin it becomes a habit, and is very hard to break; and therefore you are "Always Running". Secondly, I begin to see how difficult we, as Americans, make it very difficult for immigrants to 'make it' once they get out here. People come here to the U.S. to provide better a better life for their families, and we make it almost impossible. We put their kids in special education classes, or put them a year behind simply because they don't speak english properly. Or we make them take second-hand jobs for the same reasons. We shouldn't be discouraging them but encouraging them, and admiring their courage for being able to leave their homes and come here in hope for a new and brighter future. Third, sadly society doesn't do much to lead our youth astay from gangs and doing wrong. We make false accusations against our youth and treat them like criminals even when they're not (The cops chasing him and his friend Tino because they were playing basketball at the schoolyard). Sometimes, kids think to themselves "Well, if all people see me as is a thug, when I'm not, then maybe I might as well become one--at least this way now they'll be right!" We have to help out our childreen. We have to nurture our children. Not just as parents, but as a community. We need to do like the Africans. They believe it takes a whole entire village to raise a child, and I believe so too. Finally, being that he was able to come out of that lifestyle, shows others that it's not impossible to do. Sometimes, all we need is an example of someone making it to give us renewed hope and faith; and hopefully people will begin to use this book as inspiration to do right and turn from wrong and eventually stop running!

Rating:
Summary: WHAT AN INCREDIBLE BOOK!!!!!!! MUST BE READ!!!!!!!!
Review: As he was growing up, Rodriguez had a vivid lifestyle in which he had witnessed countless shootings, racism, beatings, and several other negatively hard crimes. At 12 years of age, he experienced some illusions of gangs and rascim. People would relate to this book in many different ways, as they were growing up too. I believe this book could get to your fealings, but when I started to read it, I was resenting against the people who were rioting.

Rating:
Summary: Gangs, drugs, and violance
Review: "Always Running" is the true life story of Luis J. Rodriguez, who comes from a mexican immigrant family of six, and their struggle for a better life. The story takes place in the ghettos of Los Angeles, filled with gangs, drugs and violance. I really enjoyed reading this book, because it was easy to read and understand. And since I was so much into the reading, and what was going to happened in the next page, it didn't even seem as long as it was.In the back of the book, the author included a glossary. This helped me understand some of the vocabulary that he uses in spanish. Eventhough my first language is spanish, I never heard some of the vocabulary words that he used.I also liked the way that he describes all of the characters. He gives clear descriptions of the characters and that helped me to picture what they looked like. When he gives the descriptions of the gangs, he describes the Sangria gangsters as "Looking loke the old days. "In small hats, long coats, and baggy pants." He then describes the other gang Las Lomas. "Looking like summer, white t-shirts, starched levis with royal cuffs and bandanas." Overall, I would recommend this book for evryone to read. Specially those involved in gangs who think that they have no way out of a gang. Luis had a rough childhood, but he learned, after loosing twenty five of his friends due to gang violance, to go back to school and be someone.He learned to be succesful and he is now a great writer.I give this book five stars.

Rating:
Summary: always running
Review: In his autobiography, Always Running, Luis Rodriguez describes his life story of the challenges he struggles to encounter as a young boy. At a young age, Luis faced and was exposed to the many difficult issues that affected his life. Growing up as a son of poor Mexican immigrants in East Los Angeles, he desperately joins a gang called Lomas at the age of twelve. He committed many criminal acts like robbery, assualt, and drugs. Yet a victim of many senseless acts, it destroyed a part of his soul. Many Caucasians discriminate against the Latino's, so Luis also faced a lot of racism. The injustice society is responsible for Luis's struggles as a young boy, but his poor decisions also contribute to his difficult life.
I recommend this book because also facing the discrimination as a minority, I can relate to how his life feels like. It helps me understand why I am treated the way I am and how I should prevent it. This book taught me that racism impacts a person to a great deal, but it can also make you a stronger and better person.

Rating:
Summary: It's a five star book!
Review: It has been said,"young people read nobles to learn about other people's life." This quote means that young peaple read in order to know how other peaple live through out the different generations and learn from it. It is indeed true, I as a young person like to read most of all to figure out how other people different from me lives and how they get along whith their issues in life and apply it to my self. I personally think this book it's one of it's kind. Always Running it's a piece of literature that basically reflects on a lot of young people, it tells the story of Luis as a gang member when he was young himself and how he feels now seeing his son on the same situation. This is something that gives a lot to think about, I mean to all of us teenagers that think that the thing we do now won't influence our future generation and that we wouldn't be affected by it. This book it's a great example on that and that's the reason why I rated it as a five star book!

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ BOOK!!!
Review: It's about a lifestyle of a young child, growing up in the streets of Los Angeles, Luis J. Rodriguez writes about his vivid life, encountering racism, killings,cruicial beatings, and shootings. Moving around the areas of the Los Angeles he gets involve in gangs later on his life, learns that the gang life is not great. Turn his life into school. Write this book for his son so he won't make a mistake. Relates to people who are in gang activity and show that there is another way in life to succeed, Instead of living by a gun.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing More Than a Glorified Ex-Gangbanger
Review: I read this book about ten years ago for the first time. My son was being "courted" by a gang in our area and a fellow parent recommended it. It did not help.
Neither does it help to read that Rodriguez' son went back to prison after the publication of that book.
In my modest opinion, but is worth something nevertheless in a world where our Latino and Black youth are being killed and killing on the streets everyday--for all the hype I have heard about Luis Rodriguez--he is no more than a glorified ex-gangbanger who found an angle for self-promotion. As a parent I must ask myself, where was he when his own child needed him?

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I Have Read
Review: Always running is the best book I have ever read. This book tells us what's happening around the world. The authors writing makes us feel like if we were inside the book and makes you feel what he felt when he was young. I believe that many kids who are not involved in gang's would have to read this book before they get involved because they don't know how it is to be a gang member and this book might make them think deeply. Many kids will find it interesting because this is not a book written by someone who is old, this book is written by a teenager who lived the way we all live in this days. I think that the schools all around the United States should make the students read this instead of reading books by old authors because old authors bore the young students.

Rating:
Summary: It was off the hook
Review: Always Running was a very powerful book, it's poetic writing and creative detail gave the book a life-like twist. It is a very "real" book, it don't beat around the bush, or sugarcoat the truth, it gives it to you raw. It shows other people how gangs are, for the reason that he wants to remove his own child from a gang that his son recently joined.