POE PARK

During one life-changing Bronx summer, Enoch Morales’s world is turned upside-down. He is looking forward to hanging out all summer with his street-wise buddy Spencer—then Spencer is shot and killed. While Enoch is still reeling from that loss, he must also adjust to an older brother he never knew who has come from Puerto Rico. They form an uneasy relationship in which Miguel shifts back and forth between caring big brother and gang member. Then Enoch learns that Spencer had been running drugs for a gang. Devastated, he feels he can no longer believe in anyone, but he realizes that he’s strong enough to deal with whatever life throws at him. Martinez wisely allows Enoch to tell the story in his own way, in language that is beautiful without losing street credibility. He is a sensitive observer who is able to convey his own strongly felt emotions as well as an understanding of the emotions of his family and friends. Moving and powerful. (Fiction. 10-12)