The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees

Frankie is just an average kid, but there's nothing average about his brother, Steve. The school's soccer star, effortless student, and girl magnet, Steve has nothing to prove to anyone -- except the town's cholos, a gang of tattooed locos who play by a whole separate set of rules. Steve's about to go to college on a scholarship. Will he risk everything he's done in high school to win a different kind of respect?

Pushed by the school's rich kid/jock/bully, Frankie is beginning to think that his brother is onto something.

This book was chosen as part of my school's book club. The students love it (especially the boys).

Bibliotherapeutic value: Examines the concept of machismo and respect. Frankie gets props for taking on the town bully, but he's signed onto a game of one-upsmanship that, once it starts rolling, is hard to control.

Voorhees, Coert. The Brothers Torres. New York: Hyperion, 2009.

ISBN: 1423103068. $8.99.