A Pura BelprA© Author Honor Book
A ALSC Notable Childrena�TMs Book
A TomAs Rivera Mexican American Childrena�TMs Book Award Winner
An ABA Indies Introduce Title
A Kidsa�TM Indie Next List Pick
An E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader Award Finalist
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction and Poetry Honor Book
An Amelia Bloomer List Book
A Bank Street Best Childrena�TMs Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Publishers Weekly Flying Start
An NPR Best Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction
A School Library Journal Best Book
A Horn Book Fanfare Selection
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Childrena�TMs Literature Best Book
An NYPL Best Books for Kids
A Chicago Public Librarya�TMs Best of the Best Book
An Evanston Public Library 101 Great Books for Kids
A Seattle Public Library Top 10 Childrena�TMs Chapter Book
A UPenn Graduate School of Education Best Book
A Dorothy Canfield Fisher Childrena�TMs Book Award Nominee
A Sunshine State Young Readers Award Nominee
A Great Lakes, Great Reads Award Winner
A Nerdy Book Award Winner
There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a new school a�" you cana�TMt fix it with duct tape like you would your Chuck Taylors. On Day One, twelve-year-old MalAo (MarA\xada Luisa, if you want to annoy her) inadvertently upsets Posada Middle Schoola�TMs queen bee, violates the schoola�TMs dress code with her punk rock look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the process. Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles away, says things will get better as long as she remembers the first rule of punk: be yourself.
The real MalAo loves rock music, skateboarding, zines, and Soyrizo (hold the cilantro, please). And when she assembles a group of like-minded misfits at school and starts a band, MalAo finally begins to feel at home. Shea�TMll do anything to preserve this, which includes standing up to an anti-punk school administration to fight for her right to express herself!
Age Range: 9-12 | Grade Level: 4-7 | Lexile Measure: 670L