I Am a Taxi (The Cocalero Novels)

Synopsis

Winner of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award For twelve-year-old Diego and his family, home is a prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents farmed coca, a traditional Bolivian medicinal plant, until they got caught in the middle of the government's war on drugs and were mistakenly convicted of drug possession. Diego's parents are locked up, but he can come and go: to school, to the market to sell his mother's handknitted goods, and to work as a "taxi," running errands for other prisoners. But then his little sister temporarily runs off while under his watch, earning his mother a heavy fine. The debt and dawning realization of his hopeless situation make him vulnerable to his friend Mando's plan to make big money, fast. Soon, Diego is deep in the jungle, working as a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation. As his situation becomes more and more dangerous, he knows he must take a terrible risk if he ever wants to see his family again. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Copyright:

2006

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

208 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781554980215

Related ISBNs:

9781554986101, 9780888997364, 9780888997357

Publisher:

Groundwood Books Ltd

Date of Addition:

06/23/21

Copyrighted By:

Deborah Ellis

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Children's Books, Health, Mind and Body, Literature and Fiction

Grade Levels:

Fifth grade, Sixth grade, Seventh grade, Eighth grade, Ninth grade

Reading Age:

10–14

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.