Useful Fools
C.A. Schmidt
Hardcover
(Penguin Group, Aug. 16, 2007)
Two teens battle terrorism, poverty and racism in this gritty tale of love and war, Useful Fools. Alonso, a dirt-poor Peruvian teenager, is ambitious and idealistic, but he’s also crazy about Rosa, the daughter of the doctor who runs a clinic in Alonso’s slum. When terrorists murder Alonso’s mother, he and Rosa are torn apart. Alonso becomes a guerrilla while Rosa breaks from her rich friends and dives into the slum to save what’s left of Alonso’s family.