Whyman, Matt. Boy kills man.WHYMAN, Matt. Boy kills man. HarperCollins. 153p. C2005. 0-06-074665-3. $6.99. JS To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, March 2005: In Medellin, Colombia, "gangsters rule" and "the gun speaks louder than words." Sonny and his hulking hulk·ing also hulk·y adj. Unwieldy or bulky; massive. hulking Adjective big and ungainly Adj. 1. best friend Alberto dream of being soccer stars, but know they must bring in money to help support their fatherless households. They start out at age 10 running cigarettes for a local storekeeper who is connected to a feared local mobster and drug-runner, El Fantasma. When they walk in on a robbery in the store and Alberto saves the storekeeper by beating the robber to death, he is soon given a gun to carry by El Fantasma himself and promoted to assassin--the law won't jail a minor for murder. Sonny is terrified ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. but envious en·vi·ous adj. 1. Feeling, expressing, or characterized by envy: "At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way.... of Alberto's new power, and when Sonny's abusive uncle beats him up and Alberto shoots the man in the foot, Sonny is determined to work for El Fantasma and have a gun too. One day, Alberto goes out on a job and doesn't return; and Sonny realizes that despite the gun, the same fate awaits him, and that he is helpless to change this. This spare and disturbing tale is based on real events, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the author, and he makes Sonny's impoverished, violent, hopeless world all too real to the reader. The title and the cover, featuring a young man's bare back with a tattoo tattoo, the marking of the skin with punctures into which pigment is rubbed. The word originates from the Tahitian tattau [to mark]. The term is sometimes extended to scarification, which consists of skin incisions into which irritants may be rubbed to produce of angel wings angel wings a deformity of the scapulae seen with osteodystrophia fibrosa, particularly in kittens. The pull of the scapular muscles causes an outward bowing, hence the name. and a gun stuck in the waistband of his jeans, are sure to get attention. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion