| Summary: | Yanez deftly explores the coming-of-age of Raul Luis Cruz, a Mexican American teenager who grows up in El Paso, just across the Rio Grande from Juarez, still home to many of his relatives. At 12, after his mother gets a promotion, Raul and his family moves to a northern suburb, a step up from the Lower Valley where he grew up, leaving behind his beloved neighborhood 'like a lizard tail in the desert.' In high school, he finds his niche as team manager of the football team, and takes pride in his job bagging groceries at Big Way Foods. But after graduation, Raul knows he must 'evolve' into something more; the problem is knowing just which path to take. His new girlfriend, a college student from California, volunteering with the homeless in People's Park for the summer, opens up a new world to Raul, and steers him toward applying for community college. --
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