When We Wuz Famous

by Greg Takoudes

Overview

Francisco Ortiz, a handsome straight-A student and gifted basketball player from the barrio, wins a full scholarship to an elite boarding school. His future seems promising. But soon after Francisco moves into the dorm, his new classmates assume the worst of him: they pepper him with questions about drugs and gangs. It's all so confusing, made even more complicated when Francisco realizes that back home in the hood, he no longer fits in, though his friends still rely on him to solve their problems. In a desperate attempt to help one of his homies, Francisco makes a terrible decision and becomes everything he fought so hard to rise against.
In When We Wuz Famous, Greg Takoudes has written a riveting novel about breaking down stereotypes, crossing boundaries, and clinging to where you come from.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805098419
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	03/05/2013
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Lexile:	HL650L (what's this?)
File size:	856 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Greg Takoudes is an author and filmmaker whose feature film, Up with Me—which inspired his first novel, When We Wuz Famous—won several awards, including the Special Jury Award at South by Southwest, and was distributed by IFC Films. Prior to moving to New York, he worked for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer as a member of the creative team at Imagine Entertainment in Los Angeles. Greg lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

Greg Takoudes is an author and filmmaker whose feature film, Up with Me—which inspired his first novel, When We Wuz Famous—won several awards, including the Special Jury Award at South by Southwest, and was distributed by IFC Films.  Prior to moving to New York, he worked for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer as a member of the creative team at Imagine Entertainment in Los Angeles. Greg lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

Read an Excerpt

1
 

Are you ready to hear it?
Let’s begin by saying what this story is not. For starters, it’s not crap. That’s not to say this story is necessarily any good—it’s just not packed with lies. It’s not about a bunch of perfect-looking teenagers who dance around in designer outfits, stage pillow fights, and deliver the perfect, rip-roaring comeback to every insult. Nope. This is a story about real kids. Actual kids. Kids you like, kids you love, kids you hate—the types of kids you know.
Now, technically, you would have to call this a love story, as much as it might make your skin crawl. But it’s not the kind of love story you’re thinking of. No one buys chocolate valentines for anyone in this story. So if you’re looking for that heartwarming (and stomach-curdling) scene where the varsity boy surprises his blond girlfriend with a bouquet of flowers and balloons on her birthday after she’d positively feared that he’d forgotten, then it’s time to put this book down and start reading another one.
That scene is not in this book.
In fact, this is the kind of story where the boy actually does forget it’s his girl’s birthday, because he’s an idiot, and she really needs to dump his ass, and all her friends tell her so. But she won’t. Because she’s being an idiot too. Because that’s what happens in real life. The subtitle of this book should be The Stupid Stuff That People Do, and Why They Keep Doing It.
Another thing: Don’t expect the characters you’re about to meet to do things like learn important lessons in life. This isn’t some CW television show where the characters get to learn about themselves just in the nick of time before the show has to cut to a commercial that’s selling you fabric softener.
No, this book is about real love. And the thing about real love is that it hurts. You don’t get real love without going through real problems first. Infatuation ain’t love. Great sex ain’t love. Flowers on your birthday ain’t love. Those things are nice, but they aren’t true love. The thing about true love is that you have to get through a lot of junk—lies, pain, dishonesty—and then you have to somehow survive it all before you can get to the good part: the love that lasts.
So are you ready to hear it?
Oh, and one more thing. This book is a bit strange, too, because for a love story, it starts in the least romantic place in the world: a police station. And for a love story, it starts with the least romantic topic of conversation you can imagine: murder.

 
Text copyright © 2013 by Greg Takoudes

Editorial Reviews

Gr 9 Up—Francisco, a promising high school student and talented basketball player, is sure he can rise above his limited options in Spanish Harlem when he is granted a scholarship to attend an elite, upstate boarding school. Pressure builds as he struggles to remain true to himself and his background in this strange new environment, and he finds that escaping his past isn't easy when he still has ties back home. Within the book's first few pages, readers know that the story ends with someone being shot dead, and the murder mystery drives the plot. The series of bad decisions that spirals into tragedy is revealed through multiple perspectives, including that of Francisco, his devoted girlfriend, Reignbow, and his troubled best friend, Vincent. This novel is based on the author's award-winning movie, Up with Me (2008), and the prose is reminiscent of a screenplay: straightforward, with an engaging sense of immediacy. Complex issues such as friendship, loyalty, identity, and class disparity are explored in varying depth. An occasionally meandering plot and extraneous characters dilute the story's overall impact, but the characters' constant strife will keep teens interested. The true star of the show is perhaps the setting: Spanish Harlem is painted vividly, with harshness and beauty intertwined. Teens will appreciate the hopeful yet ambiguous ending; Takoudes chooses authenticity over a pat resolution and doesn't downplay the consequences of regrettable choices. Purchase where urban fiction is popular.—Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA

School Library Journal

Based on Takoudes’s 2008 indie film, Up with Me, this hard-hitting novel follows three teenagers in New York City’s Harlem, struggling to survive inside and outside the neighborhood. Francisco has been given the chance of a lifetime with a senior-year scholarship to a prestigious boarding school upstate. He shines on the basketball court there, but he doesn’t score as well in academics or at finding loyal friends. While Francisco suffers bouts of homesickness, his cousin Vincent flounders back in N.Y.C. without Francisco to bail him out of trouble, and Francisco’s girlfriend, Reignbow, has her hands full trying to take care of her wheelchair-bound mother. Bad decisions, missed opportunities, and betrayals lead to a tangled mess of hardships for all. The question remains whether love, forgiveness, and hope are strong enough to mend broken hearts and friendships. As Takoudes conveys major and minor tragedies, he poignantly captures Francisco’s isolation at school, Vincent’s desperation, and Reignbow’s mixture of regret and anger. Intense and determinedly realistic, this story will leave a lasting impression on readers. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ryan Fischer-Harbage, Fischer-Harbage Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Puerto Rican senior basketballer Francisco Ortiz can't escape the past. . . . A fresh new voice in teen fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Intense and determinedly realistic, this story will leave a lasting impression on readers.” —Publishers Weekly

“Gritty, fast-paced urban fiction.” —Booklist

“Compelling.” —BCCB

“Takoudes chooses authenticity over a pat resolution and doesn't downplay the consequences of regrettable choices. Purchase where urban fiction is popular.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Francisco Ortiz is no ordinary kid. As a basketball champ and a straight-A student throughout his junior year, his achievements have earned him a full scholarship to complete high school at the prestigious Seton Grove Academy. This is indeed a chance of a lifetime for a teen living in Spanish Harlem, a place where going beyond the hood rarely happens. We learn early on that Francisco has mixed feelings: he is excited, but scared. He has no idea what to expect on the outside, let alone the newness of leaving his family and friends, especially his girl, Reignbow, his best friend, Vincent, and the remaining three that make up their group, Kaos Krew. During Francisco's first couple of months at Seton, we get a glimpse into Reignbow's and Vincent's life struggles. Reignbow, who has a talent for singing, lives with her wheelchair-bound mom. Vincent's only warmth of home life and relationships is based on the times he has lived with Francisco and his family, with Francisco being the one he depends on the most. With Veteran's Day approaching, Francisco decides to pay a short visit home. Unbeknownst to everyone in the hood, he is homesick and finding it difficult to fit into his new surroundings. His emotional struggles are compounded on one side by his father's exhortation to study, work hard, and be a strong role model for the Puerto Rican community, and on the other by Vincent's concern that if Francisco becomes "more white" than ghetto, he will abandon Vincent and the rest of the Krew. Convinced that he has to win Francisco back into the hood, Vincent takes matters into his own hands and calls upon Francisco to bail him out of sticky situations. Reignbow gets caught up in the mix, and as a result, events become convoluted both in the hood and at Seton. It is very difficult to put the book down at these points because there are no hackneyed circumstances in the plot; while trying to anticipate scenes, we are also drawn into the emotional responses of the characters. Will Francisco make it through Seton? Will he and Reignbow stay together? Will Vincent win Francisco back to the hood? These and more questions spiral in our heads until the very end of the book. Using his multi-awarded independent film Up With Me as a jump-off point, Takoudes hoped that in writing this book, he would embellish the plot by capturing the feelings of a community that not only reflect life in the hood, but also situations to which teens can relate. He has accomplished this feat and much more! Reviewer: Anita Lock

Children's Literature - Anita Lock

Puerto Rican senior basketballer Francisco Ortiz can't escape the past. At first glance, he seems to have it all: a smart and sassy girlfriend named Reignbow, a sports scholarship to an elite boarding school in upstate New York, supportive parents and a cadre of cool friends in his East Harlem neighborhood. His closest buddy, Vincent, however, has a chip on his shoulder that he can't seem to shake. Things go awry one fall weekend when Francisco comes home from school, and Vincent gets arrested for a petty crime. Things escalate from there, and drama, lies and murder all ensue as Francisco is forced to decide between his own life and Vincent's. Takoudes' first teen novel, adapted from his indie film, Up with Me, moves quickly with sharp, true-to-life dialogue, well-drawn characters and a lively NYC backdrop that's full of both life and poverty. Readers learn right from the start that there's been a murder, and the story then moves back six months to tell how it all happened. This structure mostly works. The scenes in NYC feel much more fleshed out than the ones that take place upstate, where the plot takes some unlikely twists that don't jell with Francisco's character. That won't keep readers from speeding through this quick read, however, or from picking up some carefully injected Puerto Rican culture. A fresh new voice in teen fiction. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews