A Second Chance on Earth

Description

A Second Chance on Earth
by Juan Vidal

ISBN: 9780823457113
Hardcover, new

Brief Description:
A father, a friend, and a favorite book help a teen boy understand love and
loss in this moving and vivid YA novel in verse. Have you ever encountered
a book that KO’d you, Iron Mike Tyson style? One that hit you square in the
face and heart like some abracadabra casting a hex from an unknown planet?
For sixteen-year-old poet and b-baller Marcos Cadena, that book is the
beat-up copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude he finds among his late
father’s possessions after Papi is killed in an accident. Marcos’ papi has
always loomed large in his eyes. So, when Marcos travels to his parents’
childhood home of Cartagena, Colombia to spread Papi’s ashes, he brings his
father’s book with him, convinced that Gabriel García Márquez’s masterpiece
holds the key to understanding Papi’s life and accepting his death. In
Cartagena, Marcos befriends eighteen-year-old Camilo, a taxi driver and
fellow García Márquez fan who appoints himself Marcos’ unofficial tour
guide. Together, the two boys explore the landscape of Cartagena, from the
picturesque streets of Old Town to the poor neighborhood where Camilo grew
up. But when Camilo reveals a troubling secret from his past, Marcos must
ask himself whether everyone deserves a second chance. Woven through with
themes of friendship, family, and forgiveness, this poignant novel in verse
is also a love letter to Colombia and to the books of Gabriel García
Márquez.

Target Age Group: Ages 14 And Up, Grades 9 And Up