Books with author A. J. Rodriguez

Luis Rodriguez, author of the award-winning and bestselling classic memoir Always Running, chronicles his harrowing journey from a drugged-out gang member to one of the most revered figures in Chicano literature.Hundreds of thousands of readers came to know Luis J. Rodriguez through his fearless classic, Always Running, which chronicled his early life as a young Chicano gang member surviving the dangerous streets of East Los Angeles. The long-awaited follow-up, It Calls You Back is the equally harrowing story of Rodriguez starting over, at age eighteen, after leaving gang life—the only life he really knew.The book opens with Rodriguez’s final stint in jail as a teenager and follows his struggle to kick heroin, renounce his former life, and search for meaningful work. He describes with heartbreaking honesty his challenges as a father, and his difficulty leaving his rages and addictions completely behind. Even as he breaks with “la vida loca” and begins to discover success as a writer and an activist, Rodriguez finds that his past—the crimes, the drugs, the things he’d seen and done—has a way of calling him back. When his oldest son is sent to prison for attempted murder, Rodriguez is forced to confront his shortcomings as a father, and to acknowledge how and why his own history is repeating itself, right before his eyes.Deeply insightful and beautifully written, It Calls You Back is an odyssey through love, addiction, revolutions, and healing.

Hearts and Hands focuses on healing through community building. Empowered by thirty years of experience with gangs in Los Angeles and Chicago, Rodríguez offers a unique book of change. He makes concrete suggestions, shows how we can create nonviolent opportunities for youth today, and redirects kids into productive and satisfying lives. And he warns that we sacrifice community values for material gain when we incarcerate or marginalize people already on the edge of society. His drive to dissolve gang influence on kids is as personal as it is societal; his son, to whom he dedicates Hearts and Hands, served more than a decade in prison for gang-related activity. With anecdotes, interviews, and time-tested guidelines, Hearts and Hands makes a powerful argument for building and supporting community life.

From the award-winning author of Always Running comes a brilliant collection of short stories about life in East Los Angeles. Whether hilariously capturing the voice of a philosophizing limo driver whose dream is to make the most of his rap-metal garage band in "My Ride, My Revolution," or the monologue-styled rant of a tes-ti-fy-ing! tent revivalist named Ysela in "Oiga," Rodriguez squeezes humor from the lives of people who are not ready to sacrifice their dreams due to circumstance. In these stories, Luis J. Rodriguez gives eloquent voice to the neighborhood where he spent many years as a resident, a father, an organizer, and, finally, a writer: a neighborhood that offers more to the world than its appearance allows.

Travel with Art Rodriguez as he dreams of his past. He experiences an unpleasant childhood full of difficult obstacles that could have profoundly impaired his chance for a normal life. Life appears hopeless during those young years as he struggles to discover who he really is and at the same time contends with his dictatorial father. Travel with him as he takes you through the California Youth Authority, the prison system for young offenders. In this story, which brings laughter and tears, both young and old can find comfort in knowing that when life appears bleak and there seems to be no hope, events in life can change. In 1975 Art Rodriguez started a successful business in San Jose, the city in which he was born. Grow with him in his life and experience with him the hardships and successes of a new business.

Luis Rodriguez, author of the award-winning and bestselling classic memoir Always Running, chronicles his harrowing journey from a drugged-out gang member to one of the most revered figures in Chicano literature.Hundreds of thousands of readers came to know Luis J. Rodriguez through his fearless classic, Always Running, which chronicled his early life as a young Chicano gang member surviving the dangerous streets of East Los Angeles. The long-awaited follow-up, It Calls You Back is the equally harrowing story of Rodriguez starting over, at age eighteen, after leaving gang life—the only life he really knew.The book opens with Rodriguez’s final stint in jail as a teenager and follows his struggle to kick heroin, renounce his former life, and search for meaningful work. He describes with heartbreaking honesty his challenges as a father, and his difficulty leaving his rages and addictions completely behind. Even as he breaks with “la vida loca” and begins to discover success as a writer and an activist, Rodriguez finds that his past—the crimes, the drugs, the things he’d seen and done—has a way of calling him back. When his oldest son is sent to prison for attempted murder, Rodriguez is forced to confront his shortcomings as a father, and to acknowledge how and why his own history is repeating itself, right before his eyes.Deeply insightful and beautifully written, It Calls You Back is an odyssey through love, addiction, revolutions, and healing.

Win Friends. Build Confidence. Gain Self-esteem.Who are you? Young adults struggle with lots of issues—finishing school, finding a career, finding a partner, and most importantly figuring out who they are. That can often be an overwhelming question, especially when you feel like the people all around you have it figured out. In fact, you may even have questions that you would NEVER feel comfortable talking about for fear of being judged or even rejected. Don’t worry, you don’t have to navigate life alone. There’s much untapped potential in you that the world has yet to see.Become your best self. Figuring out how to make friends, develop relationships and to be confident is a step-by-step process. Now help is available in Embracing the Awkward, written by the popular teen-advice-YouTuber, The Josh Speaks. This down-to-earth guide helps you take small steps towards being somebody great. This isn’t another dry instructional book written by a boring adult disconnected from the millennial reality, it’s a guide, a workbook, an empowering step towards trying things out, discovering who you are and becoming your best self.Embracing the Awkward gives teens ideas for developing their own unique style of speaking and engaging with others. It contains infographics and workbook elements that offer a step-by-step checklist of activities, along with examples of things to say, topics to talk about and ways to lead into situations.Learn how to:Approach peopleLead into conversations with groups of peopleMake strong friendships in schoolApproach your crushes and ask them outDeal with failure and rejectionMaintain family relationshipsYoung adult self-help books such as 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Living With Intensity, The Science of Making Friends, and The Gifted Teen Survival Guide have helped people navigate the teen years and build self-esteem. Now Embracing the Awkward is here to take you to a new level of confidence, self-esteem and success.

Pacha Riley's family is being threatened, and they must leave Perú and head tosafety in America to live with their Uncle Jamie and Aunt Nina. For one who prefersanonymity, the thought of being the skinny weird kid with the funny name in a new country isnot appealing. One night, there is another sudden attack, and twelve-year-old Pacha and nine-year-old little sister Lucy must escape through the window . . . without Mami and Papi.Pacha begins to realize that there is more going on than protests over the sacred sun diskhis archaeologist parents discovered at Machu Picchu. By the time he and Lucy arrive inAmerica, he has more doubts and questions than hope. But Pacha is aided in his quest by hisTraveller—animal spirit guide—and his Uncle Jamie. Their father's younger brother,Uncle Jamie is nothing like his buttoned-up sibling; he's a jokester, an adventurer . . . and asorcerer?Uncle Jamie takes Pacha into his confidence and reveals a secret: Travellers can taketheir humans to visit past lifetimes. He also shares his suspicions about Tomás de la Vela,a Peruvian art gallery owner, who may or not be connected to the attacks on the Rileys. Whileamazed to learn his uncle's secrets, Pacha does not share his own fears that Aunt Nina may alsobe involved.The stakes are raised when Lucy is kidnapped by de la Vela and Aunt Nina. Searchingfor clues sparks a fire in Pacha, and he is able to overcome his insecurities and find the fightinside himself. He Travels to his past lifetimes as an Inkan emperor and untangles a centuries-old tale of revenge to save both the sacred disk and his little sister.

By age twelve, Luis Rodriguez was a veteran of East L.A. gang warfare. Lured by a seemingly invincible gang culture, he witnessed countless shootings, beatings, and arrests, then watched with increasing fear as drugs, murder, suicide, and senseless acts of street crime claimed friends and family members. Before long Rodriguez saw a way out of the barrio through education and the power of words, and successfully broke free from years of violence and desperation. Achieving success as an award-winning Chicano poet, he was sure the streets would haunt him no more -- until his young son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in Always Running, a vivid memoir that explores the motivations of gang life and cautions against the death and destruction that inevitably claim its participants. At times heartbreakingly sad and brutal, Always Running is ultimately an uplifting true story, filled with hope, insight, and a hard-earned lesson for the next generation.

"What if... we kissed?" Ken Arrestor thought it was stupid to ask a girl he'd never met before, never had seen, and was sitting in a dark closet with to kiss him, but when she agreed, he never knew how much his life would change. Four years later, Ken Arrestor is popular and well-known on the soccer team. He could have any girl at his school, but for some reason, he's stuck thinking about the mysterious girl who had been his first kiss. Enter Levy Fennel. Ken fell flat on his face when he met her, quite literally since he tripped over her wheelchair. Never did Ken think that he'd end up being friends with the girl in the wheelchair, or that he'd even end up wanting to be more with her. In the beginning, he was determined just to get to know the sweet, shy, sarcastic, and somewhat familiar girl no matter what, even with his teammate and ex-girlfriend making Levy question her friendships. As he got to know Levy however, Ken couldn't deny that he would soon be faced with his biggest challenge yet: figuring out how to admit his feelings to her. But what about the kiss with the mysterious girl in the closet? Follow Ken as he makes new friends and reconnects with old ones, all thanks to the help of the girl that everyone seems to underestimate. In the end, it's the fact that Levy's in a wheelchair that matters the least.(A 35,000 word novella)