Celia C. Perez
The First Rule of Punk: Be Yourself. That's one of the lasting messages from this book by Celia C. Perez.
The main character is Malu (short for Maria Luisa), and she loves to create her own 'zines (independent, hand-made magazines). Her art and original zines are between the chapters, and add her voice and graphic energy to the story. For those who love graphic novels, the realistic fiction and graphic storytelling is a nice alternative to a formal novel.
The story begins with an upset Malu dealing with moving from Florida to Chicago during middle school so her mom can take a visiting professorship. This sets up our main character always being "in-between." She is Mexican and Caucasian, she is in middle school, she just moved and her mom wants her to be a gracious señorita, but she wears duct-taped Chuck Taylors and dyes her hair. Many middle school readers will identify with her self-exploration and her group of friends.
The story that develops becomes one of finding identity and fighting for your beliefs. As Malu tries to live her best punk middle school life, I loved the references to The Smiths and Blondie, but also loved hearing about the Mexican-punk scene in Chicago. The plot builds as she and her friends decide create a band to be in the Fall Fiesta, but Malu's rule-bending gets the band disqualified. Will Malu and her friends pull off the "Alternative Fiesta"? Read The First Rule of Punk, and enjoy the ride as the book builds to its wonderful encore.
The main character is Malu (short for Maria Luisa), and she loves to create her own 'zines (independent, hand-made magazines). Her art and original zines are between the chapters, and add her voice and graphic energy to the story. For those who love graphic novels, the realistic fiction and graphic storytelling is a nice alternative to a formal novel.
The story begins with an upset Malu dealing with moving from Florida to Chicago during middle school so her mom can take a visiting professorship. This sets up our main character always being "in-between." She is Mexican and Caucasian, she is in middle school, she just moved and her mom wants her to be a gracious señorita, but she wears duct-taped Chuck Taylors and dyes her hair. Many middle school readers will identify with her self-exploration and her group of friends.
The story that develops becomes one of finding identity and fighting for your beliefs. As Malu tries to live her best punk middle school life, I loved the references to The Smiths and Blondie, but also loved hearing about the Mexican-punk scene in Chicago. The plot builds as she and her friends decide create a band to be in the Fall Fiesta, but Malu's rule-bending gets the band disqualified. Will Malu and her friends pull off the "Alternative Fiesta"? Read The First Rule of Punk, and enjoy the ride as the book builds to its wonderful encore.