Finalist, Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award; Finalist, Texas Institute of Letters 2001 Friends of the Austin Public Library Young Adult Book Award; Named to The New York Public Library's 2002 Books For The Teen Age: Finalist, ForeWord Magazine's "Book of the Year" Young Adult category; and Finalist, Writer's League of Texas' Teddy Children's Book Award. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The hero of Trino's Choice returns for Trino's Time by Diane Gonzales Bertrand. After losing two friends (one was killed, one went insane resulting from a robbery), Trino "walked around with a gut full of loneliness." Slowly, he begins to cope and to take charge of his life while learning about a Tejano hero named Jos? Antonio Navarro in history class and receiving help from friends. ( June) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 6-9-The 13-year-old introduced in Trino's Choice (Pi-ata, 1999) is having a difficult life at home and at school. Recently, he has been trying to come to grips with the death of his best friend during an attempted robbery at a car wash-a robbery for which Trino barely missed being implicated. He and his three younger brothers live in a trailer park in Texas with their poorly educated mother who does her best but barely manages to support them. When she loses her job, the family struggles just to get food and clothing. Luckily, Trino is able to find some work and his mother's new boyfriend takes the family under his wing. At the same time, a group of teens at school shows Trino the true meaning of friendship, and he even embarks on his first romance. As he begins to trust in his own abilities, he discovers that he really is smart, and that school can be fun and challenging, and can teach him some important things about his heritage. Through his example, his mother finds the courage to get a job for which she had been embarrassed to apply. When a terrible storm leaves the family homeless, Trino finally gets the chance to prove he has changed for the better. The story has high interest and a quick pace with realistic dialogue including suitably placed Spanish words and phrases. Characters are likable and carefully drawn. Those readers who were frustrated with the open-ended conclusion of the earlier title will find satisfaction in this well-written sequel.-Diane P. Tuccillo, Mesa Public Library, AZ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information