Other editions of book Shut Up!

When their mother is called to Iraq with her National Guard Unit, 17-year-old Mario Barajas and his 10-year-old brother, Eddie, move in with their Aunt Carmen. Eddie, hungry for the love of a father, happily soaks up the attention their aunt's boyfriend, Denton, freely gives. Mario is caught up with a girlfriend who is his first love, with high school soccer, and with work. He barely notices as his little brother becomes more and more withdrawn. Then, returning home earlier than expected one evening, he walks in on the terrible secret. Mario must take desperate measures to protect Eddie. This is a gripping tale of trust, betrayal, and secrets that should never be kept. Above all, this is the story of the bond of love between two brothers.The suspense builds as Mario must take big risks and suffer personal losses to keep his brother safe. Written with a keen understanding of teens and a remarkable awareness of sexual abuse dynamics, this wise novel is an important addition for any collection serving teens. - School Library Journal All teens can find something to identify with or learn from in this cathartic and ultimately hopeful tale of recovery from sexual abuse. - Booklist

When their mother is called to Iraq with her National Guard unit, 17-year-old Mario Barajas and his 10-year-old brother, Eddie, move in with their Aunt Carmen. Eddie, hungry for the love of a father, happily soaks up the attention their aunt's boyfriend, Denton, freely gives. Mario is caught up with a girlfriend who is his first love, with high school soccer, and with work. He barely notices as his little brother becomes more and more withdrawn. Then, returning home earlier than expected one evening, he walks in on the terrible secret. Mario must take desperate measures to protect Eddie. This is a gripping tale of trust, betrayal, and secrets that should never be kept. Above all, this is the story of the bond of love between two brothers.

When their mother is called to Iraq with her National Guard Unit, 17-year-old Mario Barajas and his 10-year-old brother, Eddie, are sent to live with their Aunt Carmen. Soon after the boys move in, their aunt’s boyfriend, Denton, begins spending more and more time at Carmen’s, particularly with Eddie. When Mario notices that his little brother is laughing less and behaving rather strangely, he soon discovers the sexual abuse that Eddie has been suffering at the hands of Denton. With their mother miles away, their aunt’s boyfriend threatening to split the boys up into different foster homes, and his brother refusing to tell anyone else the truth, Mario must do whatever he can to keep his brother safe. This is a gripping and moralizing tale of trust, betrayal, and secrets that should never be kept.

SYNOPSIS, Shut Up!, by Marilyn ReynoldsWhen their mother gets sent to Iraq with her National Guard Unit, seventeen-year-old Mario Barajas and his ten-year-old brother, Eddie, go to live with their aunt Carmen. Mario is not pleased with the arrangement because Carmen is “one of those people that gets all bent over every little thing, plus she likes Eddie way better than she likes me.” But the boys want to stay in their own schools, and Carmen is their only hope for that. She becomes their legal guardian and Mario and Eddie move in with her the night before their mother, Max, has to report for duty.Max tells Mario that Carmen’s busy with her job at the bank, and with Denton, the new love of her life, and as long as they follow her house rules and keep a low profile, they won’t have anything to worry about with Carmen.Soon after the boys move in, Denton begins spending more and more time at Carmen’s. Mario says Denton “hecka bugs me. He talks like he knows everything, and he acts like he owns the place, even though it’s Carmen who pays the rent.” But he sees that Denton is nice to Eddie, and Eddie likes the attention.Mario’s focus on his girlfriend, his job at Java Jive, and school, and he’s barely aware that Eddie is laughing less, and sometimes behaving rather strangely. The, after they’ve been at Carmen’s several months, Mario comes home from work earlier than expected and sees “Denton sitting on the edge of Eddie’s bed, with Eddie’s face pushed down onto his lap. Denton’s pants are open and his briefs are pulled down, and he’s holding Eddie’s mouth down on his dick.”Mario goes into a rage, attacking Denton with all his might, but he’s no physical match for the man. When he threatens to call the police, Denton tells him the first thing that will happen with police involvement is “they’ll want to protect you nice little boys. Which means they’ll take you away and out you in foster homes. Probably a group home for you, Mister Mario. No regular family wants to take in a smart-ass seventeen-year-old loser-boy like you Eddie boy here; they’ll take him away and put him in a different foster home. You’ll both change schools. One of you may be in Riverside, and the other in Northridge. Who Knows? Protective services go a long way to find foster homes. Maybe you’ll get to see each other once or twice a month, if you have nice foster parents. You get my drift?”When Carmen comes in that evening, Denton acts as if nothing has happened. Mario doubts that Carmen would believe him if he said anything against Denton. When he and Eddie are alone, he tries to get Eddie to talk to him but Eddie has taken seriously Denton’s threats to kill them both if they don’t “Shut up and stay shut up.” Mario tries to keep Eddie away from Denton, but realizes he can’t be with Eddie all of the time. Finally, he feels he has no choice but to run away with Eddie. They take Max’s old car and go four hundred miles to an Aunt and Uncle’s in Redville, a California farming community.Carmen figures out where they’ve gone. She drives up to Redville to retrieve Eddie. She claims Mario is “incorrigible” and wants nothing more to do with him, but she loves Eddie and she and Denton are going to get married and provide a good home for him. Mario finally tells the family what’s been going on, but Eddie, who stays “shut up,” doesn’t back Mario up, and the others doubt his story. It is not until another family member takes a good look at Eddie’s drawings that she notices details that might indicate molestation. In the meantime, Max has called from Iraq and urged the Redville family to keep the boys with them until she can help sort things out. Ultimately, Denton is arrested and the boys are in a safe, stable place, but both their lives have been drastically changed by their experiences. The story ends on an uneasily hopeful note.

When their mother is called to Iraq with her National Guard Unit, 17-year-old Mario Barajas and his 10-year-old brother, Eddie, move in with their Aunt Carmen. Eddie, hungry for the love of a father, happily soaks up the attention their aunt's boyfriend, Denton, freely gives. Mario is caught up with a girlfriend who is his first love, with high school soccer, and with work. He barely notices as his little brother becomes more and more withdrawn. Then, returning home earlier than expected one evening, he walks in on the terrible secret. Mario must take desperate measures to protect Eddie. This is a gripping tale of trust, betrayal, and secrets that should never be kept. Above all, this is the story of the bond of love between two brothers.The suspense builds as Mario must take big risks and suffer personal losses to keep his brother safe. Written with a keen understanding of teens and a remarkable awareness of sexual abuse dynamics, this wise novel is an important addition for any collection serving teens. –School Library Journal All teens can find something to identify with or learn from in this cathartic and ultimately hopeful tale of recovery from sexual abuse. -Booklist