Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.
 

Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.

by Luis J. Rodriguez

By age twelve, Luis Rodriguez was a veteran of East L.A. gang warfare. Lured by a seemingly invincible gang culture, he witnessed countless shootings, beatings, and arrests, then watched with increasing fear as drugs, murder, suicide, and senseless acts of street crime claimed friends and family members.
Before long, Rodriguez saw a way out of the barrio through education and the power of... (read more)

Top tags: biographymemoirgangslos angelesnonfiction (all tags)

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  • Hispanic Genre Discussion Group
  • Latino/Latina Literature Discussion Group

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Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

BCL Young Adult Librarians
  • Rated 5 stars

Luis Rodriguez speaks out of a virtually unheard experience: a young Chicano man who survived "la vida loca" gang culture in South San Gabriel. Rodriguez' writing is raw and brutally honest, but with a lyricism that will stop readers in their tracks. He gives voice to an unheard cry, and illuminates the heartbreaking cycle of poverty and violence that perpetuates gang wars. He neither simplifies the problem, nor admits defeat. His passion for reconciliation and true empowerment of minority...

BCL Young Adult Librarians’s full review »
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Didn’t Like It

Scrappy C]C]
  • Rated 2 stars

I read this book about three times because I had a fine in library and could not check out any other books. Its the best book I've read this year, but the ending was horrible. It was interesting to see what Luis Rodriguez went through while he was in a gang.

Scrappy C]C]’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 3.987805 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.8 stars
 

Newest Comments

  • helen y

    helen y said:

    what did u think at the end of the book?

    posted Thursday, August 14 2008
  • Scrappy C]C]

    scrappy c]c] said:

    It was ok/

    posted Wednesday, May 28 2008
  • AniLorac

    anilorac said:

    this book shocked me sooooooo much, but it's a very good read

    posted Tuesday, July 17 2007
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