Jumped In
After Sam leaves his mother’s home in Aberdeen, Washington—boyhood home of Nirvana—for his grandparents’ home in Des Moines, the move hits him hard, and he retreats into his hoodie. At his new high school, he arms himself with strict rules of nonengagement guaranteed to combat the most well-intentioned teachers and administrators. Sam’s strategy succeeds until seemingly bad-news Luis Cárdenas enters his life and all his classes. An unlikely relationship develops when the most zealous of English teachers dubs the silent classmates Luisandsam and pairs them in the slam event that will conclude the poetry unit. Luis’ clandestine and sensitive poetry, finger pecked on an old typewriter, intersperses short bursts of chapters. While Flores-Scott targets reluctant readers at their point of entry with accessible language, style, and plot, it is the transcending heartbreak of Sam and Luis’ deepening friendship that beckons every reader to heed his or her own inner voice. Grades 8-11. --Gail Bush