About The Book
With this riveting autobiography, Mona Ruiz and co-author Geoff Boucher spin a gripping tale of one woman’s private war to escape the tentacles of the street gangs that have carved her barrio into turfs where one misstep leads to violence.
This engrossing memoir charts Ruiz’s journey toward self-identity, tracing the tortuous path of her life—a life in which Ruiz assumed contradictory roles: gang chola, high school drop-out, disowned daughter, battered wife, welfare mother, student, and policewoman. At each step in the journey, Ruiz faced violence, ridicule, and skepticism. She nevertheless prevailed in exchanging her badge of social defiance for one of protecting her community.
This eloquent monument to courage and triumph against all odds will inspire every reader who has at some time felt overwhelmed by the daunting challenges life brandishes.
“Beneath the unique story of a gang-banger turned cop was the story that really grabbed my attention: how a young Chicana went beyond all the social pressures to fail—including physical abuse, racism, and sexism—and followed her own dreams. Geoff Boucher has helped transform this experience into a good read.”
—Luis Rodriguez, author of Always Running: La Vida Loca
“. . .Fascinating—alternately gruesome, tragic, and funny.”
—The Women’s Review of Books
“. . . this well-written book is the engrossing autobiographical account of how one woman found her way out of the world of gangs to achieve her dream of being a police officer.”
—MultiCultural Review
Mona Ruiz has been a police officer in Santa Ana, California since 1989 and has served stints with the department’s gangs and narcotics special units. A native and lifelong resident of Santa Ana, she overcame a youth spent running with the city’s violent street gangs and an abusive marriage to fulfill a lifelong dream of wearing a police officer’s badge.
Geoff Boucher is a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who specializes on covering street gangs in Santa Ana and surrounding communities. A native of Miami, Boucher began writing for United Press International at seventeen. His work has also appeared in the St. Petersburg Times and The Palm Beach Post.
