SkateFate

by Juan Felipe Herrera

Overview

From U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera comes the powerful journey of Chicano teen Lucky Z. A former skateboarder who's anything but lucky, he finds triumph and power through his voice. Raw, cool, real—this novel in verse is a shout-out to teens to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, to raise their voice and find strength in the sheer and simple power of expression.

Lucky Z has always lived on the edge—he loved to skateboard, to drag race, to feel alive. But things have taken a turn—he's living with new foster parents and a tragic past. An accident changed everything. And only his voice will set him free. As you feel Lucky breathe in life again, you will want to shout out with him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061432897
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/27/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Juan Felipe Herrera is the US Poet Laureate and was inspired by the fire-speakers of the early Chicano Movement and by heavy exposure to various poetry, jazz, and blues performance streams. His published works include 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border: Undocuments 1971–2007; Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream; Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of the Americas; Thunderweavers / Tejedoras de rayos; Laughing Out Loud, I Fly, a Pura Belpré Honor Book; Américas Award winners CrashBoomLove and Cinnamon Girl; Calling the Doves / El canto de las palomas, which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award; and The Upside Down Boy / El niño de cabeza, which was adapted into a musical. He has received the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship, and previously served as California Poet Laureate. He has taught at both California State University, Fresno, and University of California, Riverside, and held the Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair in Creative Writing. He lives in Fresno, California.

Editorial Reviews

Short diary entries and a series of confident, colorful poems introduce readers to Lucky, a wheelchair-bound former skater and drag racer who became paralyzed after a car accident. Despite the fact that Lucky is now in foster care after losing both his parents (one to Iraq War–induced post traumatic stress syndrome, one to breast cancer), he maintains a sunny outlook as evidenced by his mostly upbeat poetry. Some readers will enjoy Herrera's lyrical poems, full of strong images and stop-and-go rhythms ("on the gnarled foot so it will turn into a swan / on the hurt breast so that every beat of the heart / writes a new word for love"), while those looking for the story of a skateboarder that the title and cover promises may come away disappointed. The very brief prose sections don't provide enough detail to put the often nonsensical poetry into context. The result is a mixed bag that doesn't quite work as a narrative or a story in verse. Only one thing is certain—readers expecting a skating account are in for a wipeout. (Poetry. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

Short diary entries and a series of confident, colorful poems introduce readers to Lucky, a wheelchair-bound former skater and drag racer who became paralyzed after a car accident. Despite the fact that Lucky is now in foster care after losing both his parents (one to Iraq War–induced post traumatic stress syndrome, one to breast cancer), he maintains a sunny outlook as evidenced by his mostly upbeat poetry. Some readers will enjoy Herrera's lyrical poems, full of strong images and stop-and-go rhythms ("on the gnarled foot so it will turn into a swan / on the hurt breast so that every beat of the heart / writes a new word for love"), while those looking for the story of a skateboarder that the title and cover promises may come away disappointed. The very brief prose sections don't provide enough detail to put the often nonsensical poetry into context. The result is a mixed bag that doesn't quite work as a narrative or a story in verse. Only one thing is certain—readers expecting a skating account are in for a wipeout. (Poetry. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews - Kikus Reviews