Review of When We Wuz Famous by Greg Takoudes

[obiebookworm]

Francisco Ortiz is no ordinary kid. As a basketball champ and a straight-A student throughout his junior year, his achievements have earned him a full scholarship to complete high school at the prestigious Seton Grove Academy. This is indeed a chance of a lifetime for a teen living in Spanish Harlem, a place where going beyond the hood rarely happens. We learn early on that Francisco has mixed feelings: he is excited, but scared. He has no idea what to expect on the outside, let alone the newness of leaving his family and friends, especially his girl, Reignbow, his best friend, Vincent, and the remaining three that make up their group, Kaos Krew.
During Francisco’s first couple of months at Seton, we get a glimpse into Reignbow’s and Vincent’s life struggles. Reignbow, who has a talent for singing, lives with her wheelchair-bound mom. Vincent’s only warmth of home life and relationships is based on the times he has lived with Francisco and his family, with Francisco being the one he depends on the most.
With Veteran’s Day approaching, Francisco decides to pay a short visit home. Unbeknownst to everyone in the hood, he is homesick and finding it difficult to fit into his new surroundings. His emotional struggles are compounded on one side by his father’s exhortation to study, work hard, and be a strong role model for the Puerto Rican community, and on the other by Vincent’s concern that if Francisco becomes “more white” than ghetto, he will abandon Vincent and the rest of the Krew.
Convinced that he has to win Francisco back into the hood, Vincent takes matters into his own hands and calls upon Francisco to bale him out of sticky situations. Reignbow gets caught up in the mix, and as a result, events become convoluted both in the hood and at Seton. It is very difficult to put the book down at these points because there are no hackneyed circumstances in the plot; while trying to anticipate scenes, we are also drawn into the emotional responses of the characters. Will Francisco make it through Seton? Will he and Reignbow stay together? Will Vincent win Francisco back to the hood? These and more questions spiral in our heads until the very end of the book.
Using his multi-awarded independent film Up With Me as a jump-off point, Takoudes hoped that in writing this book, he would embellish the plot by capturing the feelings of a community that not only reflect life in the hood, but also situations to which teens can relate. He has accomplished this feat and much more!
Young adult