The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees

Brandon Sanchez

Summary
The book is about about a kid in high school named Frankie Torres Towers who lives in the shadows of his older brother who is better than him in mostly everything. His brother gets the girls and scholarships, is popular, and does whatever he wants without his parents bothering him. Frankie, on the other hand, has problems at school with a boy named Dalton, who is a rich kid whose parents own a tortilla company. Frankie's life becomes more miserable when Dalton gets the girl that Frankie likes. Things change for Frankie after an a incident in a golf park but is it for good or bad?

Critical Evaluation
This book is about karma and the different lifestyle a person can take. Frankie is a good kid and follows the rules but his brother pulls him into making crazy dumb decisions which end badly.  His brother is gang affiliated and his lifestyle is way different from Frankie's, but Frankie is getting involved into his older brother lifestyle as well and he is seeing how his brother is bit by bit destroying himself.

I give this book a 10/10 because its very suspenseful and it makes you want to read more and more.And also it's very interesting because it's got action, suspense, love and more.

All Involved By Ryan Gattis

Madeline Cruz

Plot Summary:

All Involved by Ryan Gattis is a novel based on various stories of gang members and people who witness the Rodney King riots.  But throughout the book we learn about why they're in gangs and why they do activities such as killing or doing drugs.  

Critical Evaluation:

Throughout this book you'll learn about fear and doing drugs. Gattis seems to be telling the reader that when a person does drugs when scared they'll do stuff they never thought they would be capable of doing. For example, a character called Lil Creeper does hard core drugs in order to help himself out in his daily life because he feels unstoppable on drugs. This hurts him both emotionally and physically because when he is on drugs there are situations where he doesn't remember how he got to a place or how he got something done, which affects his health by giving him a tumor. Through this example we see the author telling us that we can't use drugs to get out of our problems, because drugs will only make them worse.

For this book I'll give it a 10/10 because the way the book was set up really made it interesting and it really kept me on the edge of my seat because I kept wondering what's going to happen next.

Caged Warrior by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Brandon Sanchez

Plot Summary

The book is about a kid named McCutcheon Daniels that fights in underground fights to entertain rich and high power gang leaders for money to feed his family (and because his dad is forcing him).He lives in the poorest part of Detroit and along the way he fights people who try to kill him or want a piece of him because his rep in Detroit is being undefeated. At thirteen, his mom leaves and McCutcheon must fight for money and to stay alive.

Critical Evaluation:

This book deserves 10/10 because it's really emotional and descriptive of the actions the character takes.It's very exciting to hear all the fights he gets in and there's drama and gang violence.The book is very interesting and full of action.I like this book because the character had the same goals as me. I could also relate to some of the struggles he goes through. He trains everyday like me in order to increase his strength or abilities.

All Involved By Ryan Gattis

Tania Sanjuan

Plot summary 

All Involved connects all the characters and how their lives relate to one another. Throughout the book we meet lots of characters and how they are overcoming with gang life and police brutality in LA while there are riots and shootings going on. The only thing gangs are seeking is revenge.

Critical Evaluation

I give this book a 10/10 as it allows you to enter a new world of gang life, living in LA, and police brutality. There is a whole lot to understand in the end, and a lot of coldness throughout the book, but it will help you understand why people do the things they do.

Always Running by Luis J Rodriguez

Bryant Cruz

Plot Summary

Always running is a book about Luis J Rodriguez who talks about his life in a gang. He wrote this book so he can teach his son a little something about being in a gang. Throughout this book, he goes deep into his stories and shows us how gangs in LA are hard. Luis was picked on as a young kid and didn't like. When he saw his elementary getting attacked by gangs he realized how being in a gang gave power to them because everyone at school was terrified. He eventually got out the gangs through poetry and his achievement with his latino communities.

Official Evaluation

I would rate this book 10/10, because it has a lot of details and is very interesting. This book his lots of violence and rated R scenes. I would recommend for those who are interesting in learning about the gang life.

Forever My Lady by Jeff Rivera

Alexia Gonzalez 

Book Summary:
In this book, a gangster gets sent to a correctional facility, while his girlfriend is being held at a hospital for an injury that occurred. Later the couple finds out that they're expecting a baby. However, their parents are not accepting of their relationship at all. This causes many problems for their future. But will they put their differences aside for this new baby coming into the world?

Critical Evaluation: 
I give this book a a 9/10 because it was very interesting, it wasn't just a book where they say something, and don't give a good background on it, its not a book where something like this never happens because there is people that are in jail and that have an unsupportive family. It gives a taste of what its like to have a loved one in jail and what its like to be in jail and have family on the outside that doesn't support you.

S. E. Hinton- The Outsiders Review by: Anthony Hansen

Anthony Hansen

Book Summary:

The books about racism and about gangs and back then when old cars used to be the thing. Have you ever watched the movie "Mi Famlia" it relates to it in a way but if you haven't your missing out as well, Ponyboy is a lower classman who is trying to live his life but the white rich kids aren't making it easy for him. So Ponyboy falls into the gang life for protection but a lot of violent acts happen.

Critical Evaluation:

I really enjoyed reading it i really don't read because I can't find good books hat engaged me but this book got me till the end. I would rate it a 100/10 to be honest i wish there was another book from it.

Chameleon by Charles R. Smith Jr.

Katherine Figueroa

Plot Summary

Shawn has two divorced parents.  He likes this girl name Marisol and he tries to find a way to ask her out but he feels like she won’t like him at all.  Shawn has to choose between whether to stay at the high school close to his mom or to his dad and he only has the summer to think about it. Shawn also has to go through some family problems at home, including taking care of his aunt because she’s addicted to alcohol. This book also talks about him and his conflicts with the Crips and Bloods, two different gangs that don’t get along.

Critical Evaluation

I rate this book a 9 out of 10 because it has different types of situations, involving love, fights, and family problems. This book also makes you want to keep reading without stopping. It does not let you stop reading because it makes you feel like you’re going through the problems Shawn goes through. I love this book and I know for a fact you will too.