San Antonio College Library

Inspired by a true story, this is the story of a vicious Latino prison gang leader, doomed by his past to a life of harsh, unforgiving violence after his release from jail. He grows up in East Los Angeles, joins a street gang and is in prison while he is still of an age to be in high school. By the time he is back on the streets again, he is a skillful, educated criminal.

"Ian Haney Lopez tells the compelling story of the Chicano movement in Los Angeles by following two criminal trials, including one arising from the student walkouts. He demonstrates how racial prejudice led to police brutality and judicial discrimination that in turn spurred Chicano militancy. He also shows that legal violence helped to convince Chicano activists that they were nonwhite, thereby encouraging their use of racial ideas to redefine their...

Story of Jaime Escalante, a math teacher at East Los Angeles' Garfield High School, who refuses to write off his inner-city students as losers. Escalante pushes and inspires 18 students who were struggling with math to become math whizzes.

In the title story of this collection, Isabela is minding her family's restaurant, drinking her dad's beer, when Frida Kahlo and the Virgen de Guadalupe walk in. Even though they're dressed like cholas, the girl immediately recognizes Frida's uni-brow and La Virgen's crown. They want to give her advice about the quinceanera her parents are forcing on her. In fact, their lecture (don't get pregnant, go to school, be proud of your indigenous roots)...