This new installment in the Roosevelt High School series focuses on teen pregnancy.
Celia is a beautiful young girl on the brink of her sophomore year in high school. She watches her weekly soap opera Teen Angel and dreams about cute boys. One day, when Celia goes to visit her best friend Cassie, she meets Nicky, and exciting older boy with a tattoo of a snake on his arm. Finally, it seems that all the things that she’s been dreaming of are coming true with this boy who could pass for one of the stars on her favorite show.
When Nicky discards her and Celia discovers she’s pregnant, problems spiral around her. How will she face her parents and finish school? What happens when her fellow students at Roosevelt High find out? With the help of her older sister Juanita, Celia tries to deal with the results of her infatuation with an older boy.
“… the characters and situations are true to life … This book would be an excellent choice for classroom discussions and for reading groups.”—VOYA
“Velásquez’s books are among the few in literature for young adults where the characters are multiracial; she shows African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, and Chicanas developing strong friendships and supporting each other.”—Latina and Latino Voices in Literature
“…recommended for both public and school libraries.”—VOYA on Rina’s Family Secret
“The author does a nice job of giving readers a window into the culture and providing some positive role models.”—Booklist on Maya’s Divided World
“Velasquez has written an engaging story that will help teens, gay and straight, to better understand the consequences of homophobia.”—Booklis on Tommy Stands Alone
GLORIA L. VELÁSQUEZ is an award-winning writer of poetry and fiction. She is the author of two poetry collections, I Used to Be a Superwoman (1997) and Xicana on the Run (2006), and the Roosevelt High School Series: Tommy Stands Tall (2013), Rudy’s Memory Walk (2009), Tyrone’s Betrayal (2006), Teen Angel (2003), Ankiza (2000), Rina’s Family Secret (1998), Maya’s Divided World (1995), Tommy Stands Alone (1995), and Juanita Fights the School Board (1994), all from Piñata Books. Velásquez is currently a professor in the Modern Languages and Literatures Department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California.
ATOS Interest Level: Upper Grades
Category: Young Adult
ATOS English: 5.7
Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 85593
