When students ask author René Saldaña, Jr. how one becomes a writer, he says, “It’s complicated.” In this memoir written in verse for young adults, the author remembers his boyhood and the path that led to his becoming a reader, writer and scholar. He begins with “The Deets: My Parents as Kids,” and recounts “’Apá was born a long time ago / ‘Amá a few years after him.” His father finished elementary school in Mier, Tamaulipas, and then went to Nuevo Laredo to study machines. His parents married in Chihuahua, Texas: “It’s got one street / called Charco, or mud-puddle.”
René’s childhood along the Texas-Mexico border was filled with lots of family—cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents; his abuelo told countless stories that helped define the boy. He read magazines at the grocery store, watched his mother read Selecciones, the Spanish-language version of Reader’s Digest, and realized writing poetry was the way to get a girlfriend. But he remembers junior high school as “those blasted years” and the teachers “who made me fall / out of love with reading a book.” Later he found a book in the library in which he saw himself for the first time; there were kids that spoke Spanish, had brown skin and names like his.
This touching portrait depicts the development of a writer and the impact his rural, Mexican-American community had on his growth into a published author and university scholar. Written in an accessible style and available in a bilingual format, this moving and often humorous memoir in narrative verse will appeal to all teens. Young people of color and reluctant male readers will find it of particular interest.
Praise for the work of René Saldaña, Jr.:
“Ages-old supernatural elements mix well with a high-interest, current setting in southern Texas to create a compelling set of tales. The stories range from genuinely frightening to gloriously gruesome, but all of them are memorable. This collection is recommended for libraries serving middle school and high school students, particularly those with a substantial Hispanic population.”—VOYA on Dancing with the Devil and Other Tales from Beyond / Bailando con el diablo y otros cuentos del más allá
“Smartly written, Saldana crafts vivid characters through his well-paced plots and charming, spine-tingling narrations. [He] faithfully gives new life to the spooky folklore of the South and makes the tales fresh for today’s adolescent readers, who may be left wondering what other creatures lurk in the night.”—Booklist on Dancing with the Devil and Other Tales from Beyond / Bailando con el diablo y otros cuentos del más allá
“Told in spare, shifting viewpoints, this short novel, set in a Texas border town and peppered with Spanish phrases, is an absorbing narrative of anger, guilt, sorrow, and hope. The intense fights will grab readers, and so will the friendship and love. A great choice for readers’ theater.”—Booklist on A Good Long Way
“A poignant, brief novel that leaves a lasting impression, A Good Long Way is a meaningful read for teens by an author with a deep understanding of the struggles and rewards of growing up.”—ForeWord Reviews on A Good Long Way
“A purposeful but intense tale. Saldaña lays out his characters’ thoughts and emotional landscapes in broad strokes.”—Kirkus Reviews on A Good Long Way
RENÉ SALDAÑA, JR. is the author of the bilingual Mickey Rangel Mystery series for kids, Dancing with the Devil and Other Tales from Beyond / Bailando con el Diablo y otros cuentos del más allá (Piñata Books, 2012), The Whole Sky Full of Stars (Random House, 2007), Finding Our Way: Stories (Random House, 2003) and The Jumping Tree (Delacorte, 2001). He lives in Lubbock, Texas, where he teaches in the College of Education at Texas Tech University.
