When We Wuz Famous
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Francisco Ortiz, a handsome straight-A student and gifted basketball player from the barrio, wins a full scholarship to an elite boarding school. His future seems promising. But soon after Francisco moves into the dorm, his new classmates assume the worst of him: they pepper him with questions about drugs and gangs. It's all so confusing, made even more complicated when Francisco realizes that back home in the hood, he no longer fits in, though his friends still rely on him to solve their problems. In a desperate attempt to help one of his homies, Francisco makes a terrible decision and becomes everything he fought so hard to rise against.
In When We Wuz Famous, Greg Takoudes has written a riveting novel about breaking down stereotypes, crossing boundaries, and clinging to where you come from.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Based on Takoudes's 2008 indie film, Up with Me, this hard-hitting novel follows three teenagers in New York City's Harlem, struggling to survive inside and outside the neighborhood. Francisco has been given the chance of a lifetime with a senior-year scholarship to a prestigious boarding school upstate. He shines on the basketball court there, but he doesn't score as well in academics or at finding loyal friends. While Francisco suffers bouts of homesickness, his cousin Vincent flounders back in N.Y.C. without Francisco to bail him out of trouble, and Francisco's girlfriend, Reignbow, has her hands full trying to take care of her wheelchair-bound mother. Bad decisions, missed opportunities, and betrayals lead to a tangled mess of hardships for all. The question remains whether love, forgiveness, and hope are strong enough to mend broken hearts and friendships. As Takoudes conveys major and minor tragedies, he poignantly captures Francisco's isolation at school, Vincent's desperation, and Reignbow's mixture of regret and anger. Intense and determinedly realistic, this story will leave a lasting impression on readers. Ages 14 up.
