Michelle, on the other hand, is a nationally ranked athlete and academic superstar. This is her new life, and she?s finally put her past?and her childhood love for Silver?to rest.
Then Silver helps kidnap both girls, and Michelle has to figure out how to free them both?and reconnect with a future that might now be beyond her reach.
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January 11, 2010
Fifteen-year-old Michelle Peña is a good student and track star, living with her gay foster father. She has her sights set on a scholarship to a prestigious prep school, but is dogged by her past. She’s the offspring of gang leader parents in East L.A., and her brother, Samson, former “King” of the Snake Brothers gang, is in jail, as is their mother. Caught between two worlds, Michelle often asks herself, “Who was I anyway? The girl I was making up in my head? Track star, Ivy League–bound? Golden Child? Or... the girl I was born?” The gang’s new king has a debt to settle with Samson, who owes him drug money, resulting in the kidnapping of Michelle and her best friend. In the process, Michelle is reunited with her childhood love, Silver, and they both struggle over whether to be loyal to their gang families or break free. Adult author Murray’s YA debut is action-packed, as it raises relevant questions of identity and loyalty. This fast-paced story, heavy with street dialogue and slang, should have ample teen appeal. Ages 14–up.
March 1, 2010
Gr 9 Up-As daughter of royalty in the 99s, a gang in LA, 15-year-old Michelle Peña, Princess P, was never sure that this type of life was for her. Michelle's mother agreed and placed her in foster care. After several foster homes, Michelle is placed with Frank. Here she makes a new life, excelling in both sports and academicsuntil her blood brothers come looking for her to settle a debt. Dragon, the current king of the Snakes, needs money, and kidnapping Michelle is the fastest way to get it. She and her best friend are snatched off the streets and taken to the Snakes' hideaway in the desert. As they try to find a way out, Michelle must rely on her street smarts to save them and becomes torn between her new life and loyalty to her blood brothers. Michelle's back-and-forth shift from academic student to hardened gang member is unconvincing. And, the connection between the 99s and the Snakes and who is leading each group is confusing. However, Michelle's revelation that she wants both worldsto be leader of her gang and to be loved by Frankis telling of her age and the allure of gang life. Readers with a fascination for gangs will pick this up, but with so-so characters and a plot that drags, it may not hold their interest."Kelley Siegrist, Farmington Community Library, MI"
Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2010
Fifteen-year-old track star Michelle Pena is fast--but not fast enough to outrun her past life as an East L.A. gang princess. When she and her best friend are kidnapped by her old thuggies, "P" must choose between the good girl she wants to be and the bad girl others think she's destined to become. Vivid imagery supports this gritty, adrenaline-pumping urban story.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
December 1, 2009
Grades 9-12 The pace never slows in this gripping novel that begins when 15-year-old Michelle blasts past her competition at a regional track meet. What even her best friend, Kiki, doesnt know is that Mish is running just as hard from her past, when she was known as Princess P, the daughter of a leader in one of South L.A.s toughest gangs. While her family is in jail, Michelle has turned her life around with the help of a great, if neurotic, foster dad. Then the gang resurfaces and kidnaps Kiki and Michelle. In her powerful narrative, Michelle slides into gangsta mode, explaining jargon and gang behaviors to Kiki, and uninitiated readers, without distracting from the story. The characters are all developed and memorable, especially Michelle and Kiki, who almost hurtle from the pages, and the sense of place is vivid. Even as the cinematic action and violence races along, readers will never lose track of the storys driving questioncan Michelle ever leave her past behind?as they race to the ambiguous conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)