No Place

by Kay Haugaard

Having no place to play in their run-down inner city Los Angeles neighborhood, Arturo and his friends raise money and build a park

Library Binding

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kay Haugaard’s No Place tells the story of Arturo Morales, a Hispanic American boy, who attends an inner city Los Angeles school. His sixth grade class accepts the challenge of improving their neighborhood by transforming a vacant lot used as a local junkyard into a park for younger children. This fictionalized account of a true event tells how a class of sixth graders organized, advocated, earned money, and inspired others to donate to their cause to turn a dumping ground into a safe, green space for the neighborhood children to play.
The lessons to be learned from this are about perseverance, standing up for what you think is right, and not being afraid to try. While these are great lessons to be learned, they cannot overshadow the gross stereotypes of Latinos in the book: Arturo’s father thinks education is not important, his brother is part of a gang, and the family only seems to eat traditional Mexican food. Also, it is the financial support of wealthy white people that make the project possible. Furthermore, although the sixth grade students in the novel encounter and overcome adversity, the obstacles seem to be too easily and conveniently surmounted. The resolution of the gang subplot has a "happily ever after" ending, and this also seems to detract from the realism of the context. This book tries to be a shining example of multicultural literature, but it cannot be overlooked that the areas where it is problematic outweigh the areas where it does well.

[Amy Y. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "No Place" is about this boy named Arturo who was brought up in a bad neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. With gang member and drug dealers lurking his neighorhood, Arturo wishes he become a member of a gang called "Los Vatos" inspired by his brother Fransico. However, with only 6 months before graduating, Arturo and his class must earn 50,000 dollars to build a park for children of all ages. In this story, it shows how hard work and determination can really pay off and it could really benefit yourself and others

I never knew that this book was inspired by a real event that actually happened! I knew never knew that a tiny 6th grader could have such high hopes for something impossible. But as the old saying goes "Nothing is Impossible". Arturo and his class has such big hearts and they are very good children. They care about people in their neighborhood and they actually want it to make it a better place! Overall, if I would've rate this story on a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 8 because of its inspiration and plot!

[Townsend · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, super optimistic book, about how poor public school 6th graders can come together to do good for their community. A class of 6th grade kids work with their teacher who lets them design their own curriculum which engages fully in the civic process and does change their world. Everything that WOULD have gone wrong in most case actually, luckily, goes right. It was a bit hard to suspend disbelief at times, but it's written well and the brisk plot just carries the reader past those challenges. This book could be great for kids in grades 4-8 or 9 (maybe even 10) who are interested in the logistics of making a dream a reality.

[Jul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little read from an 11 year olds viewpoint. Issues of poverty, a tough neighborhood, growing up, siblings, a positive and creative school environment and community.

[Irfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Place an excellent book in which a Mexican child named Arturo Morales struggles to build his identity in a neighborhood where children look forward to growing up and joining gangs instead of going to college. Even Arturo has the dream to join the Los Vatos Locos which are a gang of his street and in which he thinks people are sworn to protect each other and be like brothers for the rest of their life. This idea out of any other appeals to him and that is why he gets jealous and slightly proud when his brother becomes a part of the Vatos. Even though his brother leaves the house because of a fight with his Dad, Arturo knows that he is much safer with his brothers in the Vatos gang. However, the future seems much better and brighter for him as he tries to a community service project around his neighborhood with his class. It goes from just a homework to something much more realistic for the kids as they try to appeal to the Government and do everything they possibly can to get a park around their neighborhood. They try raising money, contacting dealerships, real estate agents and making presentations just to get a neighborhood around their block here little kids can play and be safe.
Life changes for these little kids as they realize that there is always hope even if one keeps failing. They are determined to get what they want and most importantly they are loving the experience because that is something they are going to keep for the rest of their lives. It is a brilliant book and I recommend this to everyone who just like reading and treats books as a part of entertainment.

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

They story I read is “NO PLACE”, in which the protagonist, Arturo, is a boy who lives within they bad side of town, but however still retains his joyous personality. At school Arturo and his classmates Trevor, Juanita, Angel, Clorrisa, and Maria, made it their goal to build a park in the neighborhood, with a little help of their teachers, Miss Fenwick and Mr. Moreno. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the sufficient funds to build their class park, so all students went out to do a little work each day to raise money for their project. Along the way Arturo and his class had gone through some obstacles such as writing letters to the city to have permission for the park construction. At home Arturo and family troubled to stay afloat as Arturo’s brother Francisco joined a gang called “Los Vatos”. Not long after Francisco’s joining his parents immediately kicked him out of the house, and had left him to live with his friends “Los Vatos”.
There were several things that I liked about “NO PLACE”. First, was I admired Arturo’s determination to build the park even though his parents, Francisco, and his best friend Angel had told him he couldn’t build the park Arturo never gave up. One thing I didn’t like was that the book kept being repetitive with the words, park and project. I would recommend this book to readers who like inspiring stories.

[Mire Ajeti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arturo Morales lives in a neighborhood with no fun or any place for any children to play. Only a gang “Los Vatos Locos”- where’s Arturo’s brother spent most of his day with. Arturo wants to follow his brother steps, because he has no one else to look up to. Everyone in this neighborhood joins this gang, or just get marry and start a family. No one in this neighborhood finishes high school or go to college. One day in school, Arturo had an idea to make the junkyard into a playground for everyone to come and play. This becomes into a school project, the teachers and students were SO happy to help the children reach their goal/dream! So everyone (who knew about the idea) try to raise money and thought of different ways for this “dream” to come true. Do you think these little kids can reach their goal and take on on this big task?
I really disliked this book, I knew what was going to happen since the beginning because every book has a storyline like this. But, some pages of this book were memorable and I thought it was interesting. But most of this book wasn't fun to read. Its short and not hard to read. I don’t recommend this book to anyone. It wasn’t good at all and I really wish I didn't read it

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is going to sound racist...and maybe I am wrong, because I do not know the author personally....but the book read like a white, middle class woman writing about what she thinks would happen in an ideal society. All topics were superficial (no depth) and everything ran perfectly/smoothly. A sixth grade class decides to turn an abandoned lot into a park for small children....and they manage to buy the property ($59K) and build a park ($20k for the playground). Meanwhile the main character's older brother is involved in a gang..and magically gets out of the gang. All fluff. Not realistic, but maybe a good story for middle schoolers.

[Salsabrarian]

Arturo Morales lives in inner-city Los Angeles, in a neighborhood with no safe place for kids to play while his brother Francisco grows increasingly involved in gang life with Los Vatos Locos. Arturo is caught up in a school project to create a park in the neighborhood for little kids. At first everyone thinks it’s a crazy idea that will never happen, but the kids work hard and learn many lessons about governmental process, p.r., business and fundraising. The park becomes a reality and Arturo is proud to have been a part of it. Meanwhile his brother realizes the error of his ways after being shot by his own “compa.â€

[Jackie Martin]

I thought it really took a good amount of strength for Arturo not to give up on the buliding project for the park. He really showed how dedicated he was to the cause.Even though his family e.g his brother and father didn't support him, he pulled through and showed that he made the park possible in his neighborhood.

[Jenny T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A "feel good" book about 6th graders in Los Angeles, CA, working together to get a mini-park for their barrio. I enjoyed reading about how the kids dealt with cultural biases and community institutions.

[Kristin R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nurturing - The story of a class of sixth graders battles the odds to build a park in their neighborhood.

[Brianna Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://bribeebrown.com/no-place-by-k...