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The Alternative
Bridge
José can't keep up. As the only English speaker in a family of undocumented immigrants, he handles everything from taking family members to the doctor to bargaining with the landlord. Plus he works two jobs. With all this responsibility, he's missing a lot of school. When he does make it, he falls asleep in class. José knows he has to turn things around if he wants to graduate from Rondo Alternative High School. Can he raise his grades enough to have a shot at college and a better life? Or will he be forced to drop out of school for good?
92 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 2014
5 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Jones
246 books224 followersPatrick Jones is the author of five realistic teen novels, most recently Stolen Car((Walker / Bloomsbury, 2008). His first young adult novel Things Change (Walker & Company, 2004) was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as a best book for reluctant readers, and was runner-up in the Teen Buckeye Book Award selected by Ohio teens. His second novel Nailed was published by Walker / Bloomsbury in spring 2006 and was a runner-up for the Great Lake Book Award. His 2007 novel, Chasing Tail Lights, is nominated for the Minnesota Books Awards. His most recent (and last) professional publication is Connecting with Reluctant Readers (Neal-Schuman, 2006). In 2006, he won lifetime achievement awards from both the Catholic Library Association, and the American Library Association. Jones is a frequent speaker at library conferences, having visited all fifty states, as well as in Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Jones grew up in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more at his web page www.connectingya.com, including FAQs about Things Change and Nailed (perfect for book reports!). NOTE: After a bruising experience with another author, he's limited his reviews on Good Reads to only raves as not to disturb the "fellowship" of YA writers.
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December 2, 2014
This is not diversity.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Bridge shows what can happen when an author is unaware of their own privilege and internalized racism. On the surface it seems like a well intentioned short story about the importance of education, but there’s a foundation of racism and classism under all those good intentions. It’s a great example how xenophobia is so deeply ingrained in American culture that it even shows up in supposedly diverse books.
Jose is an eighteen-year-old undocumented Latino boy struggling to keep his family afloat while trying to get his high school diploma. A year prior to the start of the story, Jose’s father suffered a traumatic brain injury (caused by an on-the-job accident and went untreated by negligent emergency room staff, but I’ll get to that later), which left even more of a burden on Jose’s shoulders. Not only does he need to work to help his family financially, but because Jose is the only member of his family who speaks English he must act as a bridge between them and the rest of the American/English speaking world.
Ignore the problematic aspects of this book, it does do a good job of what it sets out to do. That being depicting Jose’s story with compassion, while pushing the importance of education and perseverance. It highlights how alternative schools can give kids like Jose a second chance at an education, but it also pushes forth the idea that the responsibility for achieving his goals by making smart choices lies squarely on a Jose’s shoulders.
From a technical aspect the writing is all tell and no show, so much so that the beginning of the story reads more like a social studies textbook than an literary narrative. As the story progresses we see more of Jose’s daily life and the narrative begins to take on more of a voice, but that voice sound right. It didn’t to belong to Jose himself, but rather someone outside the situation telling Jose’s story. Whether that was intentional or not it gave me a distinct feeling of being separate from Jose and his life. Like we are looking in, or rather down on him. That made the other issues I had with the story stand out even more.
The story goes to great lengths, despite it being a short story, to emphasize the enormous pressure Jose is under. We not only follow him through his daily routine of shuttling his father to therapy, going work and school. Jose himself is constantly listing all the things he has to do, bemoaning his lack of sleep and despairing at not seeing an end to any of it. Despite all this stress Jose’s deep sense of responsibility to his family and to not disappoint the other authority figures in his life is very clear.
What isn’t clear is where this sense of responsibility comes from. Sure, Jose loves his father. However, the story also shows how he has become a burden because his lack of language skills, education and his disability. (We’ll unpack the ablism in a later on.) His mother and aunt aren’t developed characters, so they too appear as burdens. So we aren’t given any reason for his sense of dedication other than that’s how Jose thinks. The problem with this is that there is a real reason for why a latino boy would feel responsible for the welfare of his family, and it is deeply tied to his (Mexican) culture. Sadly, the story never even mentions Mexican culture, much less portrays how it impacts both Jose's home life and view of the world.
In fact, there’s a distinct lack of any real details of Jose’s family history and true representation of Mexican culture, much less a portrayal of what first generation Mexican immigrants differ from multi-generational Latino Americans. The few mentions we get are throw away.
“Jose’s father could recall vivid details of his childhood in Taxco, an old mining town between Mexico City and Acapulco.” This is like saying his dad comes from Billings, Montana. An old mining town between Chicago and Seattle. The facts are true, but they do nothing to describe the cultural of that town or its significance to Jose’s parents or his upbringing. This lazy approach to research and representation is pretty indicative of the rest of the story.
Another example of the author’s profound ignorance and insulting lack of representation is how Catholicism is, or rather isn’t, treated in the story. In fact, it isn’t ever mentioned by name. The only time religion is mentioned is in a joke about how many statues of the Virgin Mary are in the overcrowded apartment Jose lives in with his family, and the lamenting of his mother praying all the time. People who are completely ignorant of Catholicism at least know about the Virgin Mary and the rosary. That’s the sum total of the representation in this book for a religion that is a huge part of Mexican culture.
The lack of cultural context for both in Jose’s sense of responsibility and his family’s living situation, or any nuance Latino representation allows for Jose and his family to be viewed through the default racist lens most of American media views Latinos. Reducing characteristics of a strong, interconnected family with deep religious beliefs to denote ignorance and poverty. Those offensive stereotypes are front and center in the story.
Take Jose’s mother and aunt for example. While Jose has a strong relationship with his father his mother is a bundle of stereotypes and reactions in the shape of a woman. We are told that she works two jobs, and most of the time we see her either praying and worrying over Jose’s father. She has no voice in the story partially because she doesn’t speak English, but also because the bits of Spanish she does speak is only in conversations related to her husband or son. A mother should have more of an impact on her son than this, and more presence in this story.
Then there is Jose’s aunt. Cue my heavy sigh. She too is a Latina stereotype, but a far more misogynistic one. The hypersexualized, unwed mother who goes out to party and leaves her fatherless children in the care of her overburdened family, Jose and his mother. Can you say slut shaming in Spanish? I wouldn’t have had as much of a problem if either these women had been given more character development or depth, but not only are they stereotypes they are the only women of color in the story.
Though Jose’s father gets more scenes and moments of emotional connection with his son, the ablism in how his disability is viewed by Jose takes away from any ground he gains. Jose’s father experiences memory loss, confusion, and physical disabilities, which makes him dependent on his family for help with remembering where he is and even to move around due to the right side of his body being partially paralyzed. Things are further complicated by that fact that he doesn’t speak English and often depends on Jose to translate and guide him through situations that require understanding American cultural norms. The story frames these situations in a way that reduces him to an embarrassing burden. This compounded with the racism in how Jose’s family is portrayed not only frames them as holding him back from succeeding, but makes them something he wants to escape from. While that is a common feeling all adolescence, especially those who grow up in poverty can identify with, in this story it takes a racist dimension. Everything he wants to escape is embodied in his Latino heritage and culture, while his dreams, and even the girl he wants to date, are white.
At the end of the story Jose doesn’t even get any real reward, other than a pretty white girlfriend (who is pretty much just a sexual object thrown in at the end as a reward for his determination, hello gross sexism). So the resolution of the story is based in Jose’s confidence that he made the right choice to stay in a school program that cost him a job that could have help his family financial, including providing more medical care for his father, because it will give him a diploma…eventually. IF he keeps working hard.
Under all the good intentioned diversity in this book at it’s heart this is an assimilation story, i.e. media depicting POC, specifically immigrants and indigenous people, being rewarded for becoming civilized or assimilating into Western white culture. This is an extension of the Model Minority myth that racism doesn’t really exist because some people of color have found prosperity and success. This myth enables privileged people to ignore the real road blocks, i.e. racism, classicism, etc, faced by people of color.
Often these stories vilify any other POC in the story, reducing them to gross racist stereotypes and even framing them as holding back the protagonist from succeeding. The message in these stories is very clear, anything that isn’t white or western is bad and backward. So in order to have happiness a person of color must give up their cultural identity, family and sense self in exchange for a bright white dream.
I’m not saying Bridge is this overtly racist, but is inadvertently feeding into this myth of assimilation. Everything about success in Jose’s life is framed as American, English speaking and white. His girlfriend with her pretty blond hair. His education which is delivered only in the English language, by white Americans. Meanwhile his family is portrayed as uneducated, racist stereotypes who are dragging him down, and threatening his chance at happiness.
Much of this could be avoided by more diversity in the book, even the presence of other Spanish speakers and/or Latinos in successful and/or mentor positions in Jose’s life. While there is a brief mention of Jose’s successful, educated uncle and his family, they only appear once. They do not help Jose’s family, and Jose doesn’t view them with anything but envy and resentment. So, in this story the faces of success are always white, and that does not reflect reality in America at all.
What’s even more frustrating is how the book does show the very real racism and xenophobia faced by Jose and his family. His father’s injury was worsened by a misinterpretation of a Spanish word by English speakers, but more specifically because of the medical staff and law enforcement’s prejudiced views of undocumented immigrants. Jose is fired from a job, despite his exemplarily performance up until he had to miss a fews days to care for his injured father. He is regularly lectured by teachers at his alternative school for being late, absent and falling asleep in class, even though some of these teachers are well aware of his home situation and full-time job.
These are the real road blocks and burdens in Jose’s life. Living in a country that refuses to be inclusive of those who do not speak English. Exploitative businesses that depend that on undocumented workers while treating them like they’re disposable. As well as an educational system that treats knowledge as a privilege not a basic human right. Including teachers’ racist distorted view of a Latino boy, who works full-time while going to school and supporting an injured father, as lazy and unmotivated.
This is how Jose sees himself, as lacking. He even holds himself responsible for the misinterpretation of a Spanish word by the medical staff that caused his father to be arrested instead of treated from his injuries. What’s worse is no one in the narrative ever tells him that it isn’t his fault or responsibility. No one tells him that he is an amazing young man for all that he does for his family and himself. He is always left wanting to be more, to be better.
There’s nothing wrong with Jose viewing a high school diploma and college acceptance letter as the key to a better life. What is problematic is how at no time does the story put it into perspective, to show Jose or the reader for that matter, that he has value no matter his educational status. That a diploma, like the ability to speak English is just a tool or skill that gives him access to a better life, but it doesn’t in and of itself make him better or more valuable as a person. It also never even mentions other, equally valid, avenues available to gain a high school diploma that might work better with Jose’s home life and job, like night school or simply getting his GED. If anything this story encourages a teenage boy to value a piece of paper over the health of his father and prosperity of his family.
Even as the book shows us the hardships created by the world around Jose, it doesn’t ever go the next step to point out the systemic racism. Or hold any of the privilege characters in the story responsible for their action. Instead it holds Jose solely responsible for overcoming them. Replicating racism is not the same as critiquing it, and certainly isn’t a true representation of the actual cause and contributors to it. If anything this book only reenforces the systemic racism and xenophobia that holds back boys like Jose in real like.
This book doesn’t truly represent the struggles of a person of color. In fact, it’s reads like a manual to teach kids of color to internalize racism and shows white students that only POC who look, act and conform to white, western behavior and measures of success are worthy of respect and dignity. While those who don’t are the “wrong” kind of POC and they’re the cause of their own oppression.
This is a very dangerous lie to teach kids of any ethnicity. Because American media already reenforces this message daily. Very rarely are we ever told that the stereotypes of Latinos in media aren’t real. So when a supposedly diverse and authentic story about a Latino boy reenforces those very stereotypes it will only cement them in the minds of readers who do not know any better.
When one writes about POC, and specifically about immigrants in America they cannot and should not ignore the ever present prejudice embedded in American culture, as well as their own internalized racism. Many Latino Americans ARE successful and educated, but more importantly they can achieve all this while still speaking Spanish. Education and success are not only available to those who pursue high school diplomas via conventional high school or alternative schools, but also through other more flexible educational programs like night school. I speak from first hand experiences when I say that there is nothing wrong with a General Education Degree and it will not hold a student back from gaining entrance to college. Those who value these conventional high school diplomas over those gained through night school or GED program are supporting a false classist ideal of the “right kind” of education. They are also ignoring how economic privilege is a big factor in educational success, often much more than a students scholastic performance.
There is no one true road to education and prosperity, nor should there be. People of color should not have to earn respect and dignity, much less an education and prosperity, from privileged people in power who only reward it to those who look, talk and think like them. That’s oppression dressed up as freedom.
Diverse representation doesn’t just refer to ethnicity, but also diversity in economics, class and point of views. Authors need to check their own privilege before assuming they have the authority to tell people of color how they should or shouldn’t live their lives.
In the end, while I can recognize and appreciate that the intentions behind this story, I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Bridge shows what can happen when an author is unaware of their own privilege and internalized racism. On the surface it seems like a well intentioned short story about the importance of education, but there’s a foundation of racism and classism under all those good intentions. It’s a great example how xenophobia is so deeply ingrained in American culture that it even shows up in supposedly diverse books.
Jose is an eighteen-year-old undocumented Latino boy struggling to keep his family afloat while trying to get his high school diploma. A year prior to the start of the story, Jose’s father suffered a traumatic brain injury (caused by an on-the-job accident and went untreated by negligent emergency room staff, but I’ll get to that later), which left even more of a burden on Jose’s shoulders. Not only does he need to work to help his family financially, but because Jose is the only member of his family who speaks English he must act as a bridge between them and the rest of the American/English speaking world.
Ignore the problematic aspects of this book, it does do a good job of what it sets out to do. That being depicting Jose’s story with compassion, while pushing the importance of education and perseverance. It highlights how alternative schools can give kids like Jose a second chance at an education, but it also pushes forth the idea that the responsibility for achieving his goals by making smart choices lies squarely on a Jose’s shoulders.
From a technical aspect the writing is all tell and no show, so much so that the beginning of the story reads more like a social studies textbook than an literary narrative. As the story progresses we see more of Jose’s daily life and the narrative begins to take on more of a voice, but that voice sound right. It didn’t to belong to Jose himself, but rather someone outside the situation telling Jose’s story. Whether that was intentional or not it gave me a distinct feeling of being separate from Jose and his life. Like we are looking in, or rather down on him. That made the other issues I had with the story stand out even more.
The story goes to great lengths, despite it being a short story, to emphasize the enormous pressure Jose is under. We not only follow him through his daily routine of shuttling his father to therapy, going work and school. Jose himself is constantly listing all the things he has to do, bemoaning his lack of sleep and despairing at not seeing an end to any of it. Despite all this stress Jose’s deep sense of responsibility to his family and to not disappoint the other authority figures in his life is very clear.
What isn’t clear is where this sense of responsibility comes from. Sure, Jose loves his father. However, the story also shows how he has become a burden because his lack of language skills, education and his disability. (We’ll unpack the ablism in a later on.) His mother and aunt aren’t developed characters, so they too appear as burdens. So we aren’t given any reason for his sense of dedication other than that’s how Jose thinks. The problem with this is that there is a real reason for why a latino boy would feel responsible for the welfare of his family, and it is deeply tied to his (Mexican) culture. Sadly, the story never even mentions Mexican culture, much less portrays how it impacts both Jose's home life and view of the world.
In fact, there’s a distinct lack of any real details of Jose’s family history and true representation of Mexican culture, much less a portrayal of what first generation Mexican immigrants differ from multi-generational Latino Americans. The few mentions we get are throw away.
“Jose’s father could recall vivid details of his childhood in Taxco, an old mining town between Mexico City and Acapulco.” This is like saying his dad comes from Billings, Montana. An old mining town between Chicago and Seattle. The facts are true, but they do nothing to describe the cultural of that town or its significance to Jose’s parents or his upbringing. This lazy approach to research and representation is pretty indicative of the rest of the story.
Another example of the author’s profound ignorance and insulting lack of representation is how Catholicism is, or rather isn’t, treated in the story. In fact, it isn’t ever mentioned by name. The only time religion is mentioned is in a joke about how many statues of the Virgin Mary are in the overcrowded apartment Jose lives in with his family, and the lamenting of his mother praying all the time. People who are completely ignorant of Catholicism at least know about the Virgin Mary and the rosary. That’s the sum total of the representation in this book for a religion that is a huge part of Mexican culture.
The lack of cultural context for both in Jose’s sense of responsibility and his family’s living situation, or any nuance Latino representation allows for Jose and his family to be viewed through the default racist lens most of American media views Latinos. Reducing characteristics of a strong, interconnected family with deep religious beliefs to denote ignorance and poverty. Those offensive stereotypes are front and center in the story.
Take Jose’s mother and aunt for example. While Jose has a strong relationship with his father his mother is a bundle of stereotypes and reactions in the shape of a woman. We are told that she works two jobs, and most of the time we see her either praying and worrying over Jose’s father. She has no voice in the story partially because she doesn’t speak English, but also because the bits of Spanish she does speak is only in conversations related to her husband or son. A mother should have more of an impact on her son than this, and more presence in this story.
Then there is Jose’s aunt. Cue my heavy sigh. She too is a Latina stereotype, but a far more misogynistic one. The hypersexualized, unwed mother who goes out to party and leaves her fatherless children in the care of her overburdened family, Jose and his mother. Can you say slut shaming in Spanish? I wouldn’t have had as much of a problem if either these women had been given more character development or depth, but not only are they stereotypes they are the only women of color in the story.
Though Jose’s father gets more scenes and moments of emotional connection with his son, the ablism in how his disability is viewed by Jose takes away from any ground he gains. Jose’s father experiences memory loss, confusion, and physical disabilities, which makes him dependent on his family for help with remembering where he is and even to move around due to the right side of his body being partially paralyzed. Things are further complicated by that fact that he doesn’t speak English and often depends on Jose to translate and guide him through situations that require understanding American cultural norms. The story frames these situations in a way that reduces him to an embarrassing burden. This compounded with the racism in how Jose’s family is portrayed not only frames them as holding him back from succeeding, but makes them something he wants to escape from. While that is a common feeling all adolescence, especially those who grow up in poverty can identify with, in this story it takes a racist dimension. Everything he wants to escape is embodied in his Latino heritage and culture, while his dreams, and even the girl he wants to date, are white.
At the end of the story Jose doesn’t even get any real reward, other than a pretty white girlfriend (who is pretty much just a sexual object thrown in at the end as a reward for his determination, hello gross sexism). So the resolution of the story is based in Jose’s confidence that he made the right choice to stay in a school program that cost him a job that could have help his family financial, including providing more medical care for his father, because it will give him a diploma…eventually. IF he keeps working hard.
Under all the good intentioned diversity in this book at it’s heart this is an assimilation story, i.e. media depicting POC, specifically immigrants and indigenous people, being rewarded for becoming civilized or assimilating into Western white culture. This is an extension of the Model Minority myth that racism doesn’t really exist because some people of color have found prosperity and success. This myth enables privileged people to ignore the real road blocks, i.e. racism, classicism, etc, faced by people of color.
Often these stories vilify any other POC in the story, reducing them to gross racist stereotypes and even framing them as holding back the protagonist from succeeding. The message in these stories is very clear, anything that isn’t white or western is bad and backward. So in order to have happiness a person of color must give up their cultural identity, family and sense self in exchange for a bright white dream.
I’m not saying Bridge is this overtly racist, but is inadvertently feeding into this myth of assimilation. Everything about success in Jose’s life is framed as American, English speaking and white. His girlfriend with her pretty blond hair. His education which is delivered only in the English language, by white Americans. Meanwhile his family is portrayed as uneducated, racist stereotypes who are dragging him down, and threatening his chance at happiness.
Much of this could be avoided by more diversity in the book, even the presence of other Spanish speakers and/or Latinos in successful and/or mentor positions in Jose’s life. While there is a brief mention of Jose’s successful, educated uncle and his family, they only appear once. They do not help Jose’s family, and Jose doesn’t view them with anything but envy and resentment. So, in this story the faces of success are always white, and that does not reflect reality in America at all.
What’s even more frustrating is how the book does show the very real racism and xenophobia faced by Jose and his family. His father’s injury was worsened by a misinterpretation of a Spanish word by English speakers, but more specifically because of the medical staff and law enforcement’s prejudiced views of undocumented immigrants. Jose is fired from a job, despite his exemplarily performance up until he had to miss a fews days to care for his injured father. He is regularly lectured by teachers at his alternative school for being late, absent and falling asleep in class, even though some of these teachers are well aware of his home situation and full-time job.
These are the real road blocks and burdens in Jose’s life. Living in a country that refuses to be inclusive of those who do not speak English. Exploitative businesses that depend that on undocumented workers while treating them like they’re disposable. As well as an educational system that treats knowledge as a privilege not a basic human right. Including teachers’ racist distorted view of a Latino boy, who works full-time while going to school and supporting an injured father, as lazy and unmotivated.
This is how Jose sees himself, as lacking. He even holds himself responsible for the misinterpretation of a Spanish word by the medical staff that caused his father to be arrested instead of treated from his injuries. What’s worse is no one in the narrative ever tells him that it isn’t his fault or responsibility. No one tells him that he is an amazing young man for all that he does for his family and himself. He is always left wanting to be more, to be better.
There’s nothing wrong with Jose viewing a high school diploma and college acceptance letter as the key to a better life. What is problematic is how at no time does the story put it into perspective, to show Jose or the reader for that matter, that he has value no matter his educational status. That a diploma, like the ability to speak English is just a tool or skill that gives him access to a better life, but it doesn’t in and of itself make him better or more valuable as a person. It also never even mentions other, equally valid, avenues available to gain a high school diploma that might work better with Jose’s home life and job, like night school or simply getting his GED. If anything this story encourages a teenage boy to value a piece of paper over the health of his father and prosperity of his family.
Even as the book shows us the hardships created by the world around Jose, it doesn’t ever go the next step to point out the systemic racism. Or hold any of the privilege characters in the story responsible for their action. Instead it holds Jose solely responsible for overcoming them. Replicating racism is not the same as critiquing it, and certainly isn’t a true representation of the actual cause and contributors to it. If anything this book only reenforces the systemic racism and xenophobia that holds back boys like Jose in real like.
This book doesn’t truly represent the struggles of a person of color. In fact, it’s reads like a manual to teach kids of color to internalize racism and shows white students that only POC who look, act and conform to white, western behavior and measures of success are worthy of respect and dignity. While those who don’t are the “wrong” kind of POC and they’re the cause of their own oppression.
This is a very dangerous lie to teach kids of any ethnicity. Because American media already reenforces this message daily. Very rarely are we ever told that the stereotypes of Latinos in media aren’t real. So when a supposedly diverse and authentic story about a Latino boy reenforces those very stereotypes it will only cement them in the minds of readers who do not know any better.
When one writes about POC, and specifically about immigrants in America they cannot and should not ignore the ever present prejudice embedded in American culture, as well as their own internalized racism. Many Latino Americans ARE successful and educated, but more importantly they can achieve all this while still speaking Spanish. Education and success are not only available to those who pursue high school diplomas via conventional high school or alternative schools, but also through other more flexible educational programs like night school. I speak from first hand experiences when I say that there is nothing wrong with a General Education Degree and it will not hold a student back from gaining entrance to college. Those who value these conventional high school diplomas over those gained through night school or GED program are supporting a false classist ideal of the “right kind” of education. They are also ignoring how economic privilege is a big factor in educational success, often much more than a students scholastic performance.
There is no one true road to education and prosperity, nor should there be. People of color should not have to earn respect and dignity, much less an education and prosperity, from privileged people in power who only reward it to those who look, talk and think like them. That’s oppression dressed up as freedom.
Diverse representation doesn’t just refer to ethnicity, but also diversity in economics, class and point of views. Authors need to check their own privilege before assuming they have the authority to tell people of color how they should or shouldn’t live their lives.
In the end, while I can recognize and appreciate that the intentions behind this story, I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone.
December 31, 2014
Jose's situation is not good. He attends high school when he can, but as the oldest English speaker in his family, sometimes he has to miss school. Also, he works a job to help support his family since his dad is not well. Jose's teachers and his school want to help him, but he's blown it so many times that he's out of chances. Is there any hope for a better life for him and his family?
May 5, 2017
This story is a really good story
The struggles this kid went through made me bust out tears.
The struggles this kid went through made me bust out tears.
May 29, 2016
The Alternative Bridge: By Patrick Jones
Summary: Bridge Book is a short book that was written to reflect the struggles and sufferings of a wide population of undocumented immigrants and their families and poverty. Those difficulties can affect balance school, work issues, and learning a new language by people who have attended schools or not. Jose, who is the main character in this book, suffered and faced so many difficulties in his early life. He was the only English speaker in his entire family. He has to be responsible to support his family financially and emotionally. He has to carry all his sorrows and his father’s after his dad’s accident at work. Jose had a chance to make the best choices for his future and he did! He had to choose either to leave school or to get a first shift job. He preferred to continue to get his diploma and going forward to go to a college and he chose to work on a third shift when he didn’t get enough sleep.
Critique: I believe "Bridge" to be an interesting idea for many students to learn that nothing in life can be very easy and a person has to show responsibilities towards oneself, family, friends, and teachers. I really like the glossary in the back to define the Spanish words and sentences. There is an important thing was mentioned in this book regarding children’s translation for their parents which might cause a lot of misunderstanding for many people. I have seen a few families who preferred to use their kids to interpret for them rather than using free interpretation services which is provided by a hospital or an agency. This is related to cultural reasons to keep the privacy of the family although all places use well trained interpreters and translators!
Student Interest: this book can be read by preteens (5th- 7th Grades).
Educational Purposes: This book provides great thing about many people. Patrick Jones succeeded to write about the lives, needs, and stories of teens, especially those who think that they are the only people that have issues or struggles. This book encourages students to hold hope for future by working hard and doing the best!
Patrick, J. (2014). The Alternative:” Bridge”. Darby Greek, A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
November 28, 2015
Ten years earlier, Jose's father, a roofer, fell off a ladder at work and hit his head. Hard. At the hospital after the accident, Jose's father kept repeating the word "intoxicado" (in Spanish, this means ill, not drunk) to describe what caused him to fall. Jose, who was 10 at the time and the only English speaker in the family, translated incorrectly. As a result, the attending nurses called the police and Jose's dad was taken to jail to "sleep it off" instead of getting the medical treatment that could have made the difference. As a result, Jose's dad slipped into a coma and woke with permanent brain damage. Ever since, Jose has carried the guilt of what happened to his family. If he'd only translated properly, his dad might be normal instead of how he is. Unfortunately this, on top of working two jobs, is killing his grades. If Jose hopes to have a bright future, he needs to bring up his grades enough to graduate. But he also needs to let go of the guilt.
A very quick read I read for a book club I'm running at an alternative high school. I understand this is one of those "hi-lo" books, but I still would have liked a bit more development in multiple areas. Side characters all seemed very flat, the plot was very predictable, and the wrap-up (including the seemingly random addition of the love interest toward the end) seemed a bit too neat even for an easy reader-type story. I just didn't "feel" the story. Maybe part of this is I'm not able to relate to Jose's lifestyle...but, then, shouldn't a well-written story make me relate and care even though nothing in my life mirrors that of the characters? I hope the kids in the book club liked the book. It's not something I'd have picked out, but since the books were already purchased when I took over the club, I can't be too picky.
A very quick read I read for a book club I'm running at an alternative high school. I understand this is one of those "hi-lo" books, but I still would have liked a bit more development in multiple areas. Side characters all seemed very flat, the plot was very predictable, and the wrap-up (including the seemingly random addition of the love interest toward the end) seemed a bit too neat even for an easy reader-type story. I just didn't "feel" the story. Maybe part of this is I'm not able to relate to Jose's lifestyle...but, then, shouldn't a well-written story make me relate and care even though nothing in my life mirrors that of the characters? I hope the kids in the book club liked the book. It's not something I'd have picked out, but since the books were already purchased when I took over the club, I can't be too picky.
December 1, 2014
I really admired the author whom I met at YALSA. Jones seeks to write for lots of youth I know--often characterized as "reluctant readers" in need of seeing mirrors of themselves in literature. José fits the bill as a Latino immigrant struggling with school because he's working two jobs. But like other reviewers say, Jones shows José's family as a deficit to his education. His father who faced the greatest racial injustice and now suffers from a permanent disability is portrayed as a burden. His mother and aunt appear so cruel to each other and uncaring of José. Jones doesn't give José's family any humanity and it's heartbreaking. The portrayal of teachers is also overly benevolent in comparison. The length and reading level is good for many students I know, but I will hesitate in recommending.
June 15, 2015
A short book that does some really important things and gives focus to a population that is frequently completely overlooked in the mainstream: children as translators for their families. Jose's story is an important one, and one that should be told. This is the great thing about Patrick Jones--he is so committed to the lives, needs, and stories of teens, especially urban and underprivileged teens, and he does great things with that commitment.
That said, I am not the target audience of this novella. It was short, fast-paced, and easy to read, but it didn't resonate with me a whole lot. Part of this, admittedly, is my own biases surrounding Tim O'Brien and The a Things They Carried, because oh my god I do not need to spend anymore of my life thinking about that book in any context. I just don't. I get why it was used, it works well with the story, but seriously.
That said, I am not the target audience of this novella. It was short, fast-paced, and easy to read, but it didn't resonate with me a whole lot. Part of this, admittedly, is my own biases surrounding Tim O'Brien and The a Things They Carried, because oh my god I do not need to spend anymore of my life thinking about that book in any context. I just don't. I get why it was used, it works well with the story, but seriously.
October 26, 2014
In "Bridge," Jose struggles to balance school, work, and the responsibility of being the only fluent English-speaker in his family. This is a lot of work and a very real problem some students face (combinations, if not all of the above). I found "Bridge" to be an interesting idea of what a student very unlike myself might be going through.
This is a very short book, but I think it didn't really need to be longer (the end was a bit suddenand I could have done without the girlfriend, though). Clearly, these books are short and to the point to cater to a particular, demographic of struggling teens. English Language Learners like the protagonist Jose might not pick up a larger book due to little time to read.
This is a very short book, but I think it didn't really need to be longer (the end was a bit suddenand I could have done without the girlfriend, though). Clearly, these books are short and to the point to cater to a particular, demographic of struggling teens. English Language Learners like the protagonist Jose might not pick up a larger book due to little time to read.
May 21, 2014
All eighteen-year-old Jose wanted to do was graduate high school and go to college but, at his alternative high school, these simple goals have eluded him for five years. His parents are undocumented immigrants who don’t know English, his mom works two jobs, and his dad had worked 10-hour days until he fell off a roof due to a negligent foreman and suffered brain damage. Read the rest of the review on my blog: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.c...
January 7, 2015
Ten years ago, Jose's life changed forever when his father was in an accident at work. Both of Jose's parents are in the United States illegally and Jose is the only one who speaks English fluently. Which means he is the sole communicator for his family, the sole bread winner, the sole support. As he attempts high school for the 5th time, Jose discovers the book "The Things They Carried". As he looks at all of the things he carries, he realizes that the only way he can move forward is to leave some things behind.
Recommended for ages 12+
Recommended for ages 12+
November 24, 2015
This is more of a novelette than a novel, so I tagged it "Short stories." I was frustrated with all of the telling, but I really cared about Jose and his dad. I liked the motif of using his English class' study of The Things They Carried as backdrop for the things he was unpacking about his past too. This book feels more like one that's meant to be taught than one that's going to be handed to a kid and change their life, but in that context, I think it unpacks a lot of stuff about the immigrant experience and the guilt that children can feel when they're placed in untenable situations.
July 15, 2014
This book was released to me through Netgalley. First of all, just FYI, this is really more of a short story. I appreciate the overall message of the book but the ending seemed to come very abruptly, lacking buildup. Nevertheless, although not a piece of literary treasure, there are students who can certainly relate to the struggles of the main character and his family.
February 10, 2016
Super short easy to read book. Focusses on a boy's tasks with his family as they navigate various bureaucracies with him serving as the overburdened translator. Discusses issues of racial stereotypes and misunderstanding because of a language barrier.
September 15, 2014
This Was a great book
December 11, 2014
Real-life situations. This was a good read & I recommend the others in Patrick Jones series.
October 16, 2018
I wish this was longer, however, for the high school students I teach, I think it's the perfect length. It's a short book with a lot of substance.
April 26, 2021
I understand that this book is meant to encourage disadvantaged high schoolers to stay in school, but the plot line and writing were just so boring.
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