El Dilema de Trino

Children's Literature - Maria E. Gentle

"I hate my life" says Trino Olivares. "Being thirteen is good for nothing." Trino is clearly at the crossroads of his young life. He has to take care of his three stepbrothers, Felix, Gus, and Beto, because his mother has to work at several jobs just to pay the rent on a tiny trailer home and put a little food on the table. There is no father figure to look up to. The other male in the household is uncle Garc‚s, a good-for-nothing freeloader. But now Trino is in trouble. Having witnessed Rosca, a young thug a little older than himself, beat up a convenience store owner, Trino knows he can be a target, too. Trying to escape from Rosca, Trino wanders into a bookstore where he meets Lisana, a young student at his school. Both the bookstore owner and Lisana invite Trino to come back and listen to a Latino poet who will visit the store and read his poetry. Trino does not plan to come back, but does. The characters, dialogue, and setting are realistic. You care for Trino and want him to succeed yet you know it will not be easy. When you are poor and come from the wrong side of the tracks nothing is easy. Trino has to decide between right and wrong. This is an excellent novel for middle and junior high school students, a nice addition to the Latino genre. This is a Spanish translation and is not without its flaws, most of which are grammatical and typographical.