Dark Secrets

VOYA - Angelica Delgado

After Ernesto "Ernie" Sandoval's dad is laid off, his family moves from Los Angeles to his parents' childhood barrio. On top of the usual adolescent male worries of girls, grades, and finding cheap, cool wheels, Ernie has to deal with starting his junior year at a new school. As soon as he sets foot on his new stomping grounds he spies Naomi Martinez, a buxom cheerleader who looks great in a sweater but has a troubled home life. Alas, Naomi also has a conceited, football-playing boyfriend who needs a lot of therapy and better anger management skills. The Urban Underground series follows Ernie and pals as they navigate the treacherous waters of rivalries, romance, and heartbreak within the microcosm of Cesar Chavez High School. The Latino branch of the Urban Underground series deals with a slew of heavy-hitting issues—-from dating violence to teen alcoholism—-in a disappointing and simplistic manner. The two titles reviewed here, Dark Secrets and The Stranger, are each akin to an especially corny after-school special that force-feeds the reader a tidy solution in two hundred pages instead of sixty minutes. Ernie is equal parts social worker, busybody, and neighborhood conscience. His portrayal as a protagonist is not only unbelievably good but also unbelievably boring. Ernie, or his even more meddlesome father, bludgeon minor players (and the reader) with moral homilies to ensure that everyone learns valuable life lessons. The plot and prose heavily rely on cookie-cutter characters and dialogue guaranteed to test one's gag reflex. What could be a noble effort to create a quality series featuring Hispanic young adults comes off as sadly trite and soporific. (Urban Underground) Reviewer: Angelica Delgado

VOYA - Angelica Delgado

After Ernesto "Ernie" Sandoval's dad is laid off, his family moves from Los Angeles to his parents' childhood barrio. On top of the usual adolescent male worries of girls, grades, and finding cheap, cool wheels, Ernie has to deal with starting his junior year at a new school. As soon as he sets foot on his new stomping grounds he spies Naomi Martinez, a buxom cheerleader who looks great in a sweater but has a troubled home life. Alas, Naomi also has a conceited, football-playing boyfriend who needs a lot of therapy and better anger management skills. The Urban Underground series follows Ernie and pals as they navigate the treacherous waters of rivalries, romance, and heartbreak within the microcosm of Cesar Chavez High School. The Latino branch of the Urban Underground series deals with a slew of heavy-hitting issues—-from dating violence to teen alcoholism—-in a disappointing and simplistic manner. The two titles reviewed here, Dark Secrets and The Stranger, are each akin to an especially corny after-school special that force-feeds the reader a tidy solution in two hundred pages instead of sixty minutes. Ernie is equal parts social worker, busybody, and neighborhood conscience. His portrayal as a protagonist is not only unbelievably good but also unbelievably boring. Ernie, or his even more meddlesome father, bludgeon minor players (and the reader) with moral homilies to ensure that everyone learns valuable life lessons. The plot and prose heavily rely on cookie-cutter characters and dialogue guaranteed to test one's gag reflex. What could be a noble effort to create a quality series featuring Hispanic young adults comes off as sadly trite and soporific. (Urban Underground) Reviewer: Angelica Delgado