Overview

The bestselling, critically acclaimed, award-winning author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace presents a brilliant and transcendent work that closely follows four Los Angeles high school boys as they apply to college.Four teenage boys are high school seniors at two very different schools within the city of Los Angeles, the second largest school district in the nation with nearly 700,000 students. Author Jeff Hobbs, writing with heart, sensitivity, and insight, stunningly captures the challenges and triumphs of being a young person confronting the future--both their own and the cultures in which they live--in contemporary America. Combining complex social issues with the compelling experience of the individual, Hobbs takes us deep inside these boys' worlds. The foursome includes Carlos, the younger son of undocumented delivery workers, who aims to follow in his older brother's footsteps and attend an Ivy League college; Tio harbors serious ambitions to become an engineer despite a father who doesn't believe in him; Jon, devoted member of the academic decathalon team, struggles to put distance between himself and his mother, who is suffocating him with her own expectations; and Owen, raised in a wealthy family, can't get serious about academics but knows he must. Filled with portraits of secondary characters including friends, peers, parents, teachers, and girlfriends, this masterwork of immersive journalism is both intimate and profound and destined to ignite conversations about class, race, expectations, cultural divides, and even the concept of fate. Hobbs's portrayal of these young men is not only revelatory and relevant, but also moving, eloquent, and indelibly powerful.

Full Product Details

9781797113807

Table of Contents

Reviews

[An] exceptional work of investigative journalism...A stirring examination of life in LA, the country's political landscape, the flaws of the American higher education system, and the rites of passage from boyhood into manhood. Laced with compassion, insight, and humor, this appeal study deserves a wide readership. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Author Information

Jeff Hobbs graduated with a BA in English language and literature from Yale in 2002, where he was awarded the Willets and Meeker prizes for his writing. He is the author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace and The Tourists. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Christian Barillas is an Earphones Award-winning audio narrator and actor based in Los Angeles with credits in theater, film, and television. His professional career began with Center Theater Group's A Very Old Man with Enourmous Wings, a short story by Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez. He then appeared in several productions in and around Los Angeles including As You Like It, Sonia Flew, and A Christmas Carol. On television, he is perhaps most recognizable as Ronaldo on Modern Family, where he appears opposite Tony winner and Emmy nominee Nathan Lane. Jonathan Todd Ross is a writer and an Earphones and Audie Award-winning voice actor. He has lent his voice to numerous anime television shows, including Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sonic X. Timothy Andr�s Pabon is an English- and Spanish-speaking voice-over artist who has worked extensively in advertising and audiobook narration. He has had acting roles on House of Cards and has also been a costar on HBO's acclaimed series The Wire opposite country music legend Steve Earl. As a stage actor, he has worked off-Broadway at the June Havoc Theatre, and his regional credits include Center Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, the Hippodrome, Olney Theatre, Rep Stage, and GALA Hispanic Theatre. Gary Tiedemann is a Florida and New York-based narrator, but learned how to act in Chicago's improv, sketch-comedy, and theater scene. He came to audiobook narration after voicing countless commercials and videos over a twenty-year voice-over career. Gary has also appeared in hundreds of improv and sketch performances at Chicago's Annoyance Theatre, iO, The Second City, and in dozens of theater roles as a cofounder of The New Colony Theatre. When Gary is not in a booth, he is probably outside wondering if there is time to go camping.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available