POPPO

Poppo, a 6 year old ""human dynamo"" of Puerto Rican descent and off-the-street -Americanese (""Yours don't gots chocolate on it like mines""), wandered one day into a Brooklyn Heights apartment, looked over the pad (""It's beauty here"") and the kitchen (""Where are the cockroaches?""), then stuffed a sandwich down and stole the heart of owner and author Josef Berger. Poppo's adventures in the latter's household and his growing up problems with street gangs, stealing, scraps, and ""where do babies come from"" dilemmas take up much of this book. Then there's his search for love and loyalty and his final bittersweet decision to remain with his mother, brother and sister in their hard-pressed but honest tenement life, rather than have ""Joe"" adopt him and fulfill all his dreams. It proves a warm, winning account, charming in its naturalness, urban humor and engaging little man here.