An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio

Rating:
Summary: Short story collection for anyone
Review: A very well written collection showing teenagers who find themselves stuck in between their two diverse cultures. The twelve short stories really make you feel like you are living in the Barrio, a small area in New Jersey, with all of the characters. Though each story different, all are intertwined with a main message of showing what young people go through in a society like this. Characters come back in and out of different stories, varying from major to minor roles. The several short stories keep the reader interested, wanting to know about the next real-life situation that will come up in the next story. Each is from a different person in the Barrio's perspective, which allows the reader to see what each person goes through at one time or another. Each character is as believable as the next, and teenagers all over can relate to the realistic situations they all go through. One of my favorites of the stories is the very first one, called "Bad Influence." A girl named Rita is sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico for the summer as punishment. But instead Rita has one of the greatest summers of her life. The collection is well written all around and very intriguing, especially to teen readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely stereotypical
Review: Before I read this book, I had no knowledge what-so-ever on Puerto Rican culture; but if I based my opinions on what the author talks about in this book I would come to the conclusion that all Puerto Rican kids are either disrespectful little punks or absolutley weird nerds, which is, of course, BS. I know Cofer is an excellent author, but this books just wasn't her pot of tea! It's stupid and degrading.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely stereotypical
Review: Before I read this book, I had no knowledge what-so-ever on Puerto Rican culture; but if I based my opinions on what the author talks about in this book I would come to the conclusion that all Puerto Rican kids are either disrespectful little punks or absolutley weird nerds, which is, of course, BS. I know Cofer is an excellent author, but this books just wasn't her pot of tea! It's stupid and degrading.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and well-written
Review: I found the story of this 'gang' of boys to be interesting and well-written. The characters were very real, and so were the situations. A must-read for young adults, and those interested in multi-cultural young adult literature.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and well-written
Review: I found the story of this 'gang' of boys to be interesting and well-written. The characters were very real, and so were the situations. A must-read for young adults, and those interested in multi-cultural young adult literature.

Rating:
Summary: I thought it was a great book
Review: This book in my opinion was very good. I loved all the short stories, but the only thing that I did not like in this book is how some of the stories were written. The first-person written stories were good and there was nothing I could complain about, but the third-person written stories were horrible! It reminded me of the way I wrote in third grade and some were even repetative. However, the stories were great and it had a very strong and interesting ending.