By Siti Zulaikha Shawaludin
‘Muchacho’ is a fiction novel by LouAnne Johnson. It gives a voice to many young people who are trying to figure out where they fit in the world, the students who are smart but don’t realise how intelligent they are. The main character, Eddie Corazon, is a sharp, witty, wise philosopher and poet. He lives in Mexico. I rate this book a 5 because this book is funny and gives inspiration to those kids who are lazy and to those who are thinking to drop off school.
Eddie Corazon has been suspended more times than he can count. His friends and cousins are gang members and drug pushers. But he knows deep down that he is smarter than any of the teachers at his alternative high school believe. Through encounters with a special teacher, a cop, a book seller, an uncle, and his girlfriend, Eddie begins to see his potential. Told in a stream of consciousness style, this is an entertaining, funny, touching, and uplifting story. Eddie’s voice is so strong that you can hear it clearly. This is the best book I have read in a very long time.
“We’d still be freaks and losers except we’d be freaks and losers with educations, so we’d understand exactly what we couldn’t have.” This is one of my favourite quotes from the book. It is also about how to get you interested in writing and reading. LouAnne Johnson shows how you can start writing, by just writing like you were talking. He also stated that reading is supposedly to be informative, entertaining and thought-provoking. She reflects it in Eddie, the main character where he is a secret reader and a strong writer.
LouAnne Johnson is a former U.S. Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer, high school teacher, and the author of the New York Times bestseller Dangerous Minds. She drew on her experience working with teens to craft this novel. Like Eddie, she lives in New Mexico. Muchacho is a great book for other students. It shows how you can change and be a good person and lead you into success.***