When Victor wakes up after having been legally dead for two minutes, he can't remember what happened that caused him to end up in the hospital. His mom, some of his teachers, and other adults around him believe that he's involved in a gang, even though all Victor spends his time doing is drawing, watching Weeds, listening to heavy-metal music, and hanging out with his friend Equis. Although he means well, Victor is constantly getting himself into trouble, to the point where his mom no longer believes he is not in a gang. As time goes on, Victor begins to have visions of his father, who died in a way Victor has never discovered. Just when it seems as if Victor's life is moving forward and his art is moving him in a positive direction, he is sucked back into the life he is trying to avoid, a life that possibly caused his father's death. Though the book at times contains the very stereotypes it describes, the ending provides a sense of hope for Victor.

Victor Reyes shows a talent for art, which one of his teachers encourages, but when he fails to get accepted into art school near his girlfriend's intended college, Victor starts to slide into a gangbanging, drug-dealing lifestyle. Told in chunks spanning four years, this is a Bildungsroman with a voice reminiscent of Sherman Alexie or Walter Dean Myers, gritty with a sense of humor.

Boxed in by societal prejudices, a young Chicano struggles to find his identity.Split into two separate periods, Chacón's insightful novel portrays the trials of Victor Reyes, a death metal-loving, artistic teen who's seemingly ill-fated in life. In the book's first half, 14-year-old Victor recovers from a shooting—he was dead for a hair over 2 minutes—that leaves him with a fuzzy memory. Almost everyone, including his mom, believes he's a cholo, a gangbanger destined for trouble. Though Victor tries his best to mend his relationship with his mom, he frequently ends up in incriminating situations. Meanwhile, Victor meets and falls for a feisty part-Mexican, part-Indian girl. The story moves at a meandering pace, which Chacón uses to sketch in disjointed details. Victor's first-person narration doesn't stand out in any particular way, but each of the diverse supporting characters features a distinct, if stereotypical, voice to fill in that void. The novel's second half focuses on 17-year-old Victor, a senior succeeding in school and love. A supportive teacher helps him refine his artistic goals, pushing him to apply for art school. But Victor's anger and past won't let him go, and soon he's knee-deep in the cholo life. Overall, the author employs a well-worn redemption arc, and the often clunky, self-conscious narration doesn't really help to make it feel fresh: "They looked sort of geeky cool, like journalism students, the kind of kids that YA novels are written about." A well-meaning, awkward cautionary tale. (Fiction. 14-18)