An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio

BRONX, NY We're students who attend Middle School 118. The book we read in our Book Club is called An Island Like You. We would recommend this book to someone who likes to read about teenagers' lives in the barrio. We would rate this book a 4. Our favorite part is when Yolanda sneeks inside the fashion show when she is not even supposed to be there. Also, when it talks about Yolanda not liking her mom's boyfriend, Don Jose, we were extra interested. As a group, we think teenagers would fall in love with this book. READ IT!!! It's a great book!!!

This is a wonderful collection of stories about Puerto Ricans living together in a barrio in New Jersey. I found them to be truely entertaining and realistic. It's a good read!

A very well written collection showing teenagers who find themselves stuck in between their two diverse cultures. The twelve short stories really make you feel like you are living in the Barrio, a small area in New Jersey, with all of the characters. Though each story different, all are intertwined with a main message of showing what young people go through in a society like this. Characters come back in and out of different stories, varying from major to minor roles. The several short stories keep the reader interested, wanting to know about the next real-life situation that will come up in the next story. Each is from a different person in the Barrio's perspective, which allows the reader to see what each person goes through at one time or another. Each character is as believable as the next, and teenagers all over can relate to the realistic situations they all go through. One of my favorites of the stories is the very first one, called "Bad Influence." A girl named Rita is sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico for the summer as punishment. But instead Rita has one of the greatest summers of her life. The collection is well written all around and very intriguing, especially to teen readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

"An Island Like You" first came to my attention as I was searching for books by Judith Ortiz Cofer. I was drawn in by the individuality of the characters, their day to day challenges and struggles, and the strength that all characters showed in the face of the unknown. I just received "Una isla como tu" last week after deciding that I wanted to read the book in the true language of the characters, and I wasn't disappointed by the translation.The Spanish novel is every bit as compelling and graceful as its English counterpart, and great care is taken not to change any of the details. I believe that reading this novel in Spanish makes these stories of the barrio even more authentic, and this is an excellent translation that shouldn't be missed. The reading level of Spanish should be accessible to high school and university students studying Spanish.

This is a collection of short stories about situations Puerto-Rican American teenagers face. The setting is a New Jersey barrio, and the characters are all richly believable and intriguing. My favorite story is the first one: Rita is sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico because she lied to her parents and was caught with a boy where she shouldn't have been. The way her grandparents treat her, and the good natured way Rita protests is quite realistic. She ends up being glad she was sent to her grandparents, and she seems to have gained an appreciation for her roots. In another story, Arturo must spend an hour with his abuelo at the nursing home. At first, he's not so excited, but when the hour is up, he realizes there's a lot more about his grandfather he would like to know.The other stories are equally engaging, though not always as light-hearted and humorous. One of the stories deals with Doris and her friend Rick, who is gay. Everyone in the neighborhood rejects Rick and anything he is involved with. It's a touching and sad piece that really strikes home the importance of tolerance.