The Street Belongs to Us

• A middle-grade novel featuring a Latinx protagonist, The Street Belongs to Us is set in 1984 Los Angeles and features two 15-year-old best friends: Alex, a Mexican American tomboy, and Wolf, a troubled white kid whose mother has died. They are streetsmart, having lived in the urban jungle all of these lives. When the street where they lived is dug up as part of a gentrification scheme, the two friends build a trench and engage in a fun street war with the neighborhood kids. But Alex’s Mexican immigrant grandmother warns them to beware of what they find in the dug-up street, they ignore her, leading them to uncover more than they bargained for.
• Author Karleen Pendleton Jimenez is originally from Los Angeles and part of a Mexican American family. She wrote the book as a tribute to her childhood, and as a way to respond personally to the immigrant crisis currently unfolding in America. She also wanted to write a queer central character for middle grade students regardless of orientation; Karleen herself identifies as lesbian, and she wanted her young (non-queer) daughter to be able to read books with queer protagonists. Finally, she wanted to write about relationships between generations, specifically a young person and their grandparent.
• This novel highlights Mexican American and White American friendships amidst prevailing racist and classist environments. Alex is also portrayed as a tomboy circa 1984 but would likely be considered gender independent or trans today.
• There are B&W illustrations by Gabriela Godoy scattered throughout the book, but this is primarily a straight text title.
• Ages 8 to 12.