A Good Long Way - Softcover

Saldana Jr., Rene

3.46

83 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558856072 ISBN 13: 9781558856073

Publisher: Arte Publico Press, 2010

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"Stop it. The two of you, stop it! You're father and son; you should love each other." Roelito howls at his father and older brother as their heated argument turns into a pushing, shoving match. Beto has again come home way past curfew, and worse, smelling like a cantina.
When Beto Sr. tells his son that he either needs to follow the rules or leave, the boy--a senior in high school and a man as far as he's concerned--decides to leave, right then, in the middle of the night. Once he has walked away, though, he realizes he has nowhere to go. Maybe his best friend Jessy--a hard-as-nails girl who has run away before can help him.
The story of Beto's decision to run away and drop out of school is told from shifting perspectives in which the conflicted lives of Roel, Beto, and Jessy are revealed in short, poignant scenes that reflect teen-age life along the Texas-Mexico border.
Each one has a good long way to go in growing up. Roel fights against the teachers' assumptions that he's like Beto. Unlike his big brother, Roel is book smart and actually enjoys school. Jessy is smart too, but most of her teachers can't see beyond her tough-girl façade. Her parents are so busy fighting with each other that they don t notice her, even if she s packing a suitcase to leave. And Beto . . . somewhere along the way he quit caring about school. And his teachers have noticed and given up too.
Author and educator Rene Saldana, Jr. once again writes a fast-paced, thought-provoking novel that will engage young adults in questions about their own lives and responsibilities to family, friends, and most of all, to themselves.

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About the Author:

RENE SALDANA, JR. is the author of The Case of the Pen Gone Missing / El caso de la pluma perdida (Piñata Books, 2009), The Whole Sky Full of Stars (Random House, 2007), The Jumping Tree (Delacorte, 2001), and Finding Our Way: Stories (Random House, 2003). He lives in Lubbock, Texas, where he teaches in the College of Education at Texas Tech University.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 7 Up–A coming-of-age novel set in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Beto L�pez is a high school senior who thinks that family rules no longer apply to him. Roelito, an A student, wants to be like his “cool” older brother, yet Beto's bad habits of staying out late, skipping class, and making poor grades concern him. After a late-night confrontation with their father, Beto runs away from home. His first thought is to turn to Jessy, his best friend, for help and guidance. She wants out of her deplorable home life, too, but also wants to go to college and knows that being alone in the world and without plans is never the answer. The story unfolds during a 24-hour period and is advanced through the thoughts and feelings of the three main characters. Jessy wisely concludes that unless you have inner peace, running will not make your situation better. This fast-paced novel will make readers think about their own lives and responsibilities.–Sharon Morrison, Henry G. Bennett Memorial Library, Durant, OK. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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