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FEELS LIKE HOME by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo

FEELS LIKE HOME

by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo

Pub Date: April 10th, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-385-73332-8
Publisher: Delacorte

Calling each other “gringa” and “Mexican,” Mickey and Christina have each other’s backs in this small Texas town where football rules. Mickey’s mother disappeared ages ago, but now Mickey’s father has died in a car accident. Long-gone brother Danny shows for the funeral and seems to plan to stick around. Mickey’s quiet, studious focus on getting out of town is suddenly jolted as her life unravels in the face of the town’s hatred of Danny for a football-related crime, and Danny’s desire to pretend that much of the past never happened. Events unfold with a lively supporting cast of family friends, bullies from school and enchanting possibilities of attention from heartthrob Ricky, a present-day football hero. Despite some awkward sentences, realistic dialogue and unexpected metaphors help to enliven a narrative that builds suspense as Mickey gradually goes back to the crucial events that sent Danny into oblivion six years earlier. An extra bonus are the multiple references to The Outsiders, as the ragged copy that Danny and Mickey shared years earlier becomes a referee at the heart of their differences. (Fiction. YA)