You Don't Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens

by Sarah Cortez

Overview

When two gun-toting hoodlums tell the fourteen-year-old narrator of René Saldaña’s story, “The Right Size,” to kiss the floor, he doesn’t think twice. And his dad and younger brother drop to the floor just as quickly. “This guy Jimmy probably thinks Dad is the greatest threat among the three of us, but he’s dead wrong. Dad couldn’t hurt a bug,” the boy thinks. In the ensuing twenty minutes, he learns that his dad isn’t as weak as he thought, and in fact, his dad is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his family, even if it means killing someone.

The teens featured in these stories deal with situations typical to all young adults, including attraction to the opposite sex—or to the same sex, in one story—and first sexual encounters, problems with family and friends, academic and personal aspirations.

But they also deal with every kind of thrilling situation imaginable, from missing girls to kidnappings and dismembered bodies. A young girl finds herself living with her “family,” though she has no memory of them or who they claim she is. A geek at a prestigious public high school finds himself working with his very attractive arch-rival to solve the mystery of a severed, bloody arm that appears inexplicably in his locker. And Mike’s life sucks when his parents split up, but it gets worse when his best friend is abducted by a thug shot by Mike’s dad, a police officer. There’s something for everyone here, with aliens, ghosts and even an Aztec god making appearances in these stories.

Set in schools and communities from New York City to Venice Beach, California, the protagonists reflect the breadth and diversity of the Latino authors included in this innovative collection. Published authors such as Mario Acevedo, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Diana López and Sergio Troncoso appear alongside less well-known authors who deserve more recognition. With an introduction by young adult literature expert Dr. James Blasingame of Arizona State University, this collection is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats until the last page is turned.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611925128
Publisher:	Arte Publico Press
Publication date:	04/30/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	11 Years

About the Author

SARAH CORTEZ is a poet, educator, and law enforcement officer. She is the author of a memoir, Walking Home: Growing Up Hispanic in Houston (Texas Review Press, 2010), and a poetry collection, How to Undress a Cop (Arte Publico Press, 2000), which won the PEN Texas Literary Award in Poetry. She is the editor of Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives (Pinata Books, 2007), winner of a 2008 Skipping Stones Honor Award; Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery (Arte Público Press, 2009); You Don’t Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens (Piñata Books, 2011) and Indian Country Noir (Akashic Books, 2010). She lives and works in Houston, Texas.

What People are Saying About This

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The mix of realistic and fantastic mysteries, combined with the wide range of tone and mood, guarantees broad reader appeal for this impressive collection.

Editorial Reviews

This excellent collection—enriched by a thoughtful foreword by YA scholar James Blasingame—gives faves to Latino teens in a most original way. (Starred Review)

Booklist

This entertaining collection of short stories starts with "No Soy Loco," about a kid who's been hearing voices since he was hit in the head with a baseball. The voices keep saying words he doesn't understand. But the messages are not meant for him. The psychiatrist he is sent to turns out to be an alien on the run from people on his home planet, and Victor's injury somehow allows him to hear a warning call being transmitted by the alien police. Victor saves the day and proves, at least to himself, that he is not crazy. Another story tells of a teen's plot to murder Pancho Villa as revenge for his mother's murder. Yet another tells of girl who's been kidnapped to be forced into prostitution, but escapes with the help of an elderly neighbor. One story has to do with a boy's inability to differentiate faces, which causes him to be arrested for murder. Fortunately, his friend convinces him to tell the police what really happened. The stories, amply sprinkled with Spanish words, are well-told. Reviewer: Sarah Maury Swan

Children's Literature - Sarah Maury Swan

Gr 10 Up—These short stories are mysteries in the broadest sense of the word. They include alien abduction, kidnapping, cheating, revenge, and a Nancy Drew-type detective who runs rings around her police-detective father. The teen characters are all Latino, or live in Latino neighborhoods. The authors are also Latino, but most write adult rather than young-adult books and it shows, skewing the collection to older teens. The selections are short enough to appeal to reluctant readers, but the concepts and vocabulary will be difficult for struggling readers. Many of the stories suffer from the brevity; they conclude quickly and inexplicably.—Suanne Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FL

School Library Journal

Cortez complements her adult levelHit List: The Best of Latino Mystery(2009) with 18 new tales (from a largely different set of Latino/Latina authors) featuring teen characters and concerns. Readers with a taste for the gruesome will be delighted by Xander's discovery of a freshly severed human arm in his school locker in R. Narvaez's hilarious and memorable "Hating Holly Hernandez" or the bloody, eye-gouging battle with alien fugitives in Mario Acevedo's leadoff "No Soy Loco." Along with scary tales of murder, attempted murder and kidnapping, less violent crimes solved by young detectives include stolen auto parts,santitos(religious figurines) and costume jewelry—along with an encounter with possible ghosts and a vision of the enraged Aztec goddess Coyolxauhqui rising up over Venice Beach in Alicia Gaspar de Alba's "The Tattoo." Several authors explore moral or ethical gray areas. Sergio Troncoso contributes an anti-mystery in which a teenager simply shrugs off a near-fatal allergic reaction and moves on, and, in another ingenious twist on conventions, Carlos Hernandez crafts a smooth-talking Bronx teen who cements his reputation as a "cop-whisperer" when a face-blind friend's girlfriend supposedly disappears after posting a suicide note. Only one—a too-sketchy short-short from Daniel A. Olivas—really misses the mark. Overall, a consistent, well crafted collection. (glossary, author bios)(Short stories. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews