The story Muchacho is the tale of Eduardo "Eddie" Corazon, a Hispanic high school student living in New Mexico. He's going to the alternative school, Bright Horizons. He shoulders a tough guy exterior, but maintains a secret love for reading.
Eddie's life could go on two distinctive paths: down the road towards juvenile delinquency, or towards graduation and a "better life." Most of his friends get into trouble (such as Primo, who is rapidly becoming a criminal). However, his parents Mami and Papi push his to get his high school diploma, and his teachers Ms. Beecher and Mr. McElroy try to broaden his mind.
Eddie begins to "see the light" when he meets Lupe, a smart girl who was transferred to Bright Horizons for something she didn't do. She's a smart, no-nonsense kind of girl who any parent would want their son to bring home. She even pushes him to be a writer and enjoys reading his secret poetry. Simultaneously, however, Eddie messes up by allowing his friend to drive Papi's car. His friend not only wrecks the car, but he doesn't have a license. Papi puts his foot down and sends Eddie away to his uncle's house for the rest of the school year.
This becomes a chance for Eddie to "re-make" himself. He decides to make a new "reality" for himself as an intellectual instead of a tough guy. He and Lupe write a letter to each other every day while he's away. His grades go up. He finds a bookstore with poetry readings. His uncle trusts him and has good talks with him. He even gets Ms. Beecher to write a recommendation letter for him, stating that "He is one of those students who make the sometimes difficult task of teaching high school worthwhile...."
The story ends with Eddie reading his own poem at the poetry reading, called "Viente-Viente Vision," where he says, "If you don't like your life / you could create your own book / and follow your own words to some new place / where you write yourself a new life...."
The novel is thought-provoking, as the back cover proclaims, and provides some insight into the life of one Hispanic teenaged boy. However, the novel also feels terribly sentimental and sappy at times, and from the beginning, there are moments where it is apparent that the writer and the narrator are not one and the same. The authenticity of the story occasionally falls away, and occasionally the story feels less realistic than the reality of teenagers today. (At one point Lupe tells Eddie, "The more education you have, the more options you have." While it's a true statement, it's not exactly how a high schooler would say it!)
On the positive side is the positive message. For teachers, there is the idea that there are students with hidden potential sitting inside of desks, who you could be reaching without even knowing it. For teenagers, there is the idea that there is another option, another way out. For parents, there is the idea that their children, even the most troubled ones, can change.
However, one must be careful to realize that this novel shows the exception, not the rule. The story is appreciated, the hope is necessary, but not every student in a classroom is a hidden poet--and we need to realize that they need love, care, and attention, just as much as the Eddies and Lupes of the world. We also need to realize that not every child will grow up to be a poet, a novelist, or a philosophist.
This novel is worth reading, but be prepared before you dig in for the above issues. Also, as it is written from Eddie's perspective, there is a lot of mature language and issues.
You can pick up Muchacho at Barnes and Noble in Winston-Salem, where it is in stock. You could also check Edward McKay, or order it at Amazon.com.
