After reading Perez's award-winning Out of Darkness, I was curious to read some of her other titles. This is the story of a 16-year-old Salvadoran boy, Azael, who wakes up in juvie after a gang fight but has little recollection of what happened. For several hours each day, Azael is forced to observe a female inmate through a one-way mirror, which is presented to him as a technique for recovering his memories of the fight. Perez's story is well-written, intriguing, and gritty. Due to the subject matter of this book, as well as language and violence, I recommend it to high school students only. Readers who enjoy fast-paced realistic fiction, urban fiction, and stories about gangs would enjoy this book. I would also recommend it to readers who enjoyed Allison Van Diepen's Snitch and similar read-alikes.
