Becoming Eduardo

Plot Summary

Eddie Corazón, a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent and secret reader, attends an alternative high school in Rosablanca, New Mexico. A former straight-A student, Eddie now walks the thin line between tragedy and glory as he searches for his place in the world. A long-time friend, T.J. Ritchie, pushes him to deal drugs. Miss Beecher, an unorthodox teacher, encourages him to develop his intellect. When Eddie meets a college-bound beauty, Lupe García, he is struck by love. Desperate to impress Lupe, he even tries his hand at poetry. To his surprise, Eddie discovers that he has a natural gift for writing, but he also makes some bad choices and is sent to live with his uncle, Tío Antonio, in a different town. Eddie uses the opportunity to re-invent himself. He takes off his bandana, tucks in his shirt, and starts calling himself Eduardo. His exposure to Tío’s way of life shatters all his masculine stereotypes and inspires him to view the world – and himself – in a new light. Pulled in opposite directions by the people surrounding him, Eddie finally realizes that his own life is at stake and that it is ultimately up to him to make the right choices. A moving coming-of-age story about a Hispanic youth at a crossroads.