See my blog post on it:

http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/07/booknote-my-bloody-life.html ( )

This book showed me a world I have never ever been a part of. It almost seemed like a horrid fantasy land, like Edgar Allen Poe's vision of Oz, but it is not. It is a real place in the United States. It is a city known as Chicago.

Gangs are dangerous in multiple ways and that is the main message of the book. It takes you on a journey from Reymundo's childhood all the way through his teenage years. The book is captivating, in depth, vivid, and shocking. It is difficult to put down due to the fast pace spiral Reymundo goes down - his own personal rabbit hole. He just keeps falling deeper and deeper going through the levels of gang involvement, decrease time in school, and his increased use of drugs and violence for different purposes and reasons.

Overall, this is an amazing book. The only other book that has exposed me to a world I have never known before and found this captivating was The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

I am looking forward to reading the squeal to this book, Once A King, Always A King. ( )

Reymundo Sanchez (pseudonym), tells what he experienced growing up as a Latin King during the 1980s. This story is full of murder, blood, violence, sexual assault, and drugs. I would not recommend anyone younger than the age of 16 to read this book. However, the story is well written and perfectly illustrates how the author turned to street gangs and what he experienced as a "King." He doesn't hold anything back when telling his story, which makes for a great but difficult read.

Although this book is very graphic, many teens and young adults watch movies or play video games that depict the same material. Many students at my old high school had trouble putting this book down and I know it's very popular with young adults. This is the kind of book that you give to a teenager that's thinking about joining a gang or is heavily involved in the delinquent life. ( )

I found the book raw, distrubing and honest. It's sad how adults can just F-up the life of a child. ( )

I am normally skeptical of the "memoirs" of gang members. However, Sanchez admits in several places to a lack of knowledge and to being scared of what might happen to him. While I am sure there is some embellishing of the truth, I think there is less than in most similar items. ( )