The Barrio Kings

by William Kowalski

Paperback, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Description

Rosario Gomez gave up gang life after his brother was killed in a street fight. Now all he wants to do is finish night school, be a good father and work hard enough at his job at the supermarket to get promoted. But when an old friend shows up to ask him why he left the gang, Rosario realizes he was fooling himself if he thought his violent past would just go away. When his pregnant girlfriend is hit in a drive-by shooting, Rosario has to make some hard choices. Revenge means a return to his old ways, something he swore he would never do. But unless he takes action, his enemies will not rest until they've settled the score against him.

Genres

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Adult Learning Library

Publication

Rapid Reads (2010), 128 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member 2wildravens

Just like it says, "Rapid Reads", is quickly finished! As the title, The Barrio Kings, suggests, this is a story about gang life. Readers see how one member has changed his ways and overcome hardships. No victims here, just strong people. I enjoyed the story though finding it predictable. Perhaps

the book would be more appreciated by a young crowd?

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7 more

LibraryThing member Prop2gether

The Barrio Kings is a simple gang story in which Rosario Gomez is trying to escape his gang past, when a friend just released from prison tries to draw him back into the gang. Rapid Reads are books designed for teens or adults with very basic reading skills: a single point story, declarative

sentences, and with a handful of characters. As such, they also have to be intersting and involving, especially for their intended audience, and Kowalski succeeds quite nicely in this regard.

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LibraryThing member dbhutch

This is a Rapid Read i got from Library Things Early Review. This is an great story of Rosario Gomez who is trying to stay off the gang streets since he cleaned his life up five years ago when a rival gang shot his brother.
He is doing well working , getting his GED, has a apartment and his

girlfriend Connie who is about to have their first baby boy.
This goes through some of the things he thinks and some of the way he feels. The one of his old friends from he barrio shows up and stirs up trouble. Juan chases while the kids is scared and passes Rosie at the bus stop he helps him and hides him in his bag the next few days Rosie girlfriend Connie is shot , this is when Rosie takes Juan's advice to go after the gang that killed his brother or so the gang thought, he goes to talk to the gang leader that killed his brother and they call a truce or sorts.
Rosario Gomez gets his GED and makes manager of the story he is working for and takes care of his girlfriend and baby boy.
Great fast read took me like 3 hours.

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LibraryThing member jynxpierce

This was a Rapid Reads book, which was an excellent way to spend a few hours! The gang life was describe very well while still flowing quickly. I loved it!

LibraryThing member bakersfieldbarbara

This is truly a Rapid Reads book, but this also makes it appealing for a beach, or summer read. At first, I was sure I wasn't going to like this book, but the author pulled me in right away. I expected violence, which is a turn off for me, but the way everything was written, I found myself reading

until the end of the book, just to see what the outcome would be. When Rosario Gomez gave up his gang friends to become a father and husband, his gang member friend started to try to pull him back in. This novel shows how allegiances are formed and how hard they are to be let go of. And also, how instrumental one bad apple will try to pull another back in, rather than change into a better life for himself. Good insight into the thinking of gang members and they influence they wield. I highly recommend this book to young people and anyone that is around gang life. Which is everybody, because criminals affect everyone. Pass this book on as a gift to any young person you know; get them to thinking about their future. This book will guide them as to the difficulity of making good decisions, but that it can be done..

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LibraryThing member rphalliburton

I'm afraid I won't do this book review justice. The Youth Department in our church is small and made up of primarily of Latinos. Three of them have girl friends who are expecting babies. I don't know if any to them are in, or have been in, gangs but I felt a kinship with this book.

The author told

it like it is. It is hard to break away from old habits, especially if you don't have money or friends who encourage you. Rosario did have a good boss who realized Rosario's potential and encouraged him to get his GED.

All's well that ends well, and I wish every young man could break away like Rosario did.

I heartily recommend this book.

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LibraryThing member re_re_98

Loved the book, both content wise as well as it's length. Great for a quick afternoon read. I figured due to it's size, that the author wouldn't have ample time to build the characters and to get very in depth into the story. But....I was wrong! Highly recommended expecially for teens or young

adults.

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LibraryThing member elleayess

Well, it certainly was a quick read! I found at times, however, the story was difficult to really get into. I don't know if it was the fact that it was such a condensed book or if it was very simple language and sentences that made it so hard for me. I understood that this book was probably for

young adults, but I felt the reading was below that. It read too much like an old school Dick and Jane book to me. The book would be great for an older child just learning to read (maybe didn't have the opportunity, or maybe even someone like the main character in the book?).

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