Mi Barrio

I enjoy the occasional graphic novel. There are a lot of great biographical ones and I enjoy the way the story unfolds, the sparsity of the genre, how there are no words wasted, that everything said is important and often has a lot of meaning crammed into each tiny sentence. I read Mi Barrio which was written by Corey Michael Blake and illustrated by Shane Clester and is the story of Robert Renteria, who narrated his story to Blake. It's kind of a rags to riches tale with a heart. I found out about the book from a poster at the library and put it on hold, later learning that this book is used widely in the Chicago Public schools to inspire their inner-city youth. I thought it could perhaps be something my husband Alan used in his classroom as well. Then I read it and saw that some of the content (drugs, gangs, etc.) isn't entirely appropriate for a fourth grade classroom, but would work at the middle or high school level. It's a very short read (only 55 pages) but definite worthwhile.

 (Robert Renteria)