CITATION: Rodriguez, A. (1999). East side dreams. Coyote, CA: Dreamhouse PressIDENTIFYING #: ISBN 0967155509
CLASSIFICATION: NONFICTION
GENRE: BIOGRAPHY
CALL #: 921 RODRIGUEZ
RECOMMENDED AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: Adult
RATING: 4
Annotation: Art Rodriguez chronicles his gang activity and legal troubles as a youth growing up in San Jose, CA.
Summary: I really wanted to like this book, especially because it's set in San Jose, an area I'm familiar with. Also, the same student who had recommended A Place to Stand for a library recommended this book to me. I was expecting it to be a story similar to A Place to Stand, but was honestly disappointed. The story is about Arthur growing up in San Jose He has an understanding mother, but a harsh and abusive father. This book is about the fights and trouble Arthur gets into while growing up, and hard times with his father, and how he reforms himself and goes on to have a positive life as an adult.
Notes: I couldn't get past the writing style to enjoy this book. I found it stilted, and although many of Rodriguez' life events were interesting, the writing was not expressive, which killed it for me.
