Reviews for Tight

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A loner navigates a dangerous relationship.Bryan is a quiet, Afro-Puerto Rican sixth-grader living in Brooklyn. He enjoys comic books, video games, and keeping to himself. Pa, recently released from prison, and Bryan's sister, Ava, encourage him to be tough. Ava mocks him for being a "momma's boy," and Pa tells him it's better to be feared than liked. Ma, however, encourages Bryan to use his brains instead of his fists. Ma introduces Bryan to Mike, a slightly older black boy who uses the services at the community center where Ma works; she says he "seems nice" and "gets good grades," and Bryan needs a friend. Soon Mike and Bryan become so close that they say they're brothersbut Mike isn't as good as Ma and others think. Bryan gets swept up in Mike's influence and begins to behave badly in small ways, throwing rocks at cars from rooftops and practicing his mother's handwriting so he can forge excuses from school. After Pa violates his parole and is arrested again, Bryan's behavior escalates, including cutting class and hopping onto moving trains. Through Bryan's believable, emotionally honest first-person narration, Maldonado skillfully shows a boy trying to navigate parental desires and the societal expectations of his Brooklyn neighborhood while trying to figure himself out. Readers will be rooting for Bryan to make the right choices even as they understand the wrong ones. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In black Puerto Rican Bryan's Brooklyn world, tight can mean either "cool" or "angry." The sixth grader experiences both meanings when he becomes friends with Mike, who's cool at first but begins to show a dark peer-pressuring side. When he begins following Mike's risky lead, Bryan learns valuable lessons about character, friendship, family, and--like the superheroes in his favorite comic books--the power of choice. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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