Vida y Muerte en La Mara Salvatrucha

by Anonymous

58 pages, paperback, novela, with 7 page area for answering questions about symbolism in the text. 8 page glossary od vocab. words at back.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Read For School, School, High School, Nonfiction, Realistic Fiction

51 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Mikayla Beckman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this is by far the favorite book I have ever read in Spanish. I throughly enjoyed and understood it. The plot was so clear and well crafted. This was a simple yet heartbreaking and eye opening story about gang live and violence in the United States. It was short but realllyyyy good and enjoyable

[Alexa Lamberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustaba este libro y es mi libro favorito que he leído en clase. Era muy triste que el pandillero se diera cuenta de que sus amigos del pandillo no fueron amigos reales. Era un libro tan interestante.

[Osvaldo H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este... Este si es un buen libro. You se lo recomendaría a quien sea. Cuando ya agarré este libro creía que iba a ser como los otros que casi no tenían chiste. Estaba muy equivocado. Los eventos te dejan pensando y el final te deja con escalofríos.

[Paige or Indigo Rogalla INACTIVE · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for Spanish class, and I absolutely loved it. I was a little worried about reading a book in Spanish, as I'm still learning the language, but the author did a great job articulating what they wanted to say and I was able to understand everything almost completely.

I didn't have a lot of prior knowledge about gangs going into this story, and we normally don't talk about that type of topic in school, so I was naturally really interested in what I was going to learn about. Reading this story, I gained so much knowledge about gangs and it was really interesting to begin to understand how they work and the logistics of them. This book allowed me to clearly see what happens in a gang, the roles that people play, and the persona of a gang versus the action. The reasons why people join gangs was also interesting to me, and the challenge of being born into a gang is a struggle that many people can't even begin to understand.

I think that books like this are important for people to read so they can begin to understand a different type of culture and the dirty grit behind everything that happens within that culture. There are a lot of societal prejudices about gangs, and I was able to figure out which of those were stretched and which weren't as true as they appeared to be. I also discovered that sometimes being a part of a gang isn't a choice that people make, it can be made for them. This can lead to a trapped lifestyle that decides a person's fate for them.

I overall really appreciated this book and everything that it taught me. I would recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about gangs and an inside experience and perspective.

[Jorge Tarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yo recomiendo este libro porque me encanta mucho este libro. Es una historia de un pandillo y su vida de violencia y todo mal mundo tiene ofrecer. Yo no puede cerrar el ibro y esta mi libro favorito de la clase de espanol. Todas personas pueden leer el libro y gusta algo en el libro.

[Andrea Botello · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro “ Vida y muerte en la mara salvatrucha “ es mi favorito libro. Este libro está lleno con muchos detalles. Este libro tiene mucha action y es sobre un muchacho que está en una pandilla. Recomiendo este libro si usted es un poco más avanzado y entiende el español un poco más.

[AmyQuijada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gusto este libro porque hablaba de la vida real. Hablaron de cómo era la vida del muchacho y cómo la vida pandiera no era bueno. El libro tiene muchos detalles, y eso me gusto. Yo recomendariá este libro.

[Cole LaRochelle]

Es un buen libro. Me gusto esto libro y es mas dificil de los oltros libros que puedemos scogere.

[Estefania · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mi me encanto y es muy interestante.

[Karime Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este fue un libro muy enervante. Este libro dio muchas vueltas inesperadas pero fue bueno en general. Lo único que no me gusto fue que la novia del narrador se murió.

[Daniel Wetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro es muy interesante. Es un oportunidad para aprender de un pandilla. Lee este libro.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was depressing

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mu deprimido y yo no comprendo mucho por que es en espanol, pero un novel buen

[Brooklynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

it didnt update properly 👹👹 also for spanish practice

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to the other books from TPRS that I've read, this is my favorite by far. It was surprisingly informational, and I got to learn a lot about the most dangerous gang in almost the whole world, MS13. The book was told in the voice of a narrator, who was a part of the gang. It begins by sharing the history of the gang, and it's formation. MS13 was originally formed by a group of immigrants fleeing from EL Salvador, due to war. Upon arriving in LA, they found that the danger from El Salvador was just as bad as the mistreatment the received from a mexican gang, who had declared these immigrants a threat to their territory. Therefor, the newly immigrated families started to leave the house in groups, and eventually formed a little society to protect themselves and their families from the brutality of the mexican gang. It turned out however, that this little society would soon grow to be much worse than what they were originally trying to protect themselves from.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked most? I read a book in Spanish. There were definitely words I didn't know, but I could read the whole thing and understand what was happening.

The reality is that this is an elementary-level book, and I can't totally recommend it. The story was compelling enough to keep reading for someone like me trying to improve my Spanish skills.

[Brit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story about the life of a fictional MS-13 member. This book is great practice for more advanced Spanish learners as it includes a variety of verb tenses while still keeping the vocabulary basic enough to not need a dictionary for every other sentence.

[Laura-Jane Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students are actually loving this one.

[Mahdisreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for Spanish class

[Tim Trott · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Spanish teacher gave me this book to practice reading. The bonus was it is a fascinating story, told from the perspective of a gang member who lost his parents, his girlfriend and then his freedom. He joined the gang and ended up with a life jail sentence. That may not sound very appealing, but the story goes much deeper and presents a revealing perspective of life inside a gang and what it does to people. Excelente para aprender espanol.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este librito era un cuento de poder y amor, y las cosas que uno podría hacer para ellos. El final no es feliz, sino reflexivo y bastante deprimente. Pero es necesario. Es una reflexión profunda sobre la vida generalmente. El protagonista encuentra el amor, pero en el final no lo tiene.

Para solo 51 páginas, es un cuento lleno de lecciones importantes y personajes reales con motivos genuinos.

Lo disfruté mucho.

[Yaira · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡El libro ‘Vida y Muerte En La Mara Salvatrucha’ se unos de mi libros favorito! El libro agarró mi atención porque es una historia de un muchacho que se metió en la vida de pandillero. El perdió sus padres y más tarde en la historia perdió a su novia u su hermano. Perdió todo, y si el tenía otro oportunidad en la vida, el iría a la escuela.

[kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

actually enjoyed reading this. was another book for "reading in spanish"
had more difficult words, but the words were related to my major: criminology/criminal justice
i think it portrayed life in gangs very well, and the struggle that some members have to go through
would read again and would recommend to spanish learners

[Tashia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is full of stereotypes that link immigration with gang violence, and fails to take a nuanced approach to examining how this gang violence came to be. The role that the United States played in contributing to the instability of El Salvador and surrounding region is entirely un examined. I wouldn’t want this book to be how my students are introduced to any of these issues.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantaría leer este libro con mis estudiantes. Aprecio la historia dada al principio de la novela y, aunque sea ficción, también aprecio la perspectiva que ofrece el narrador como miembro de la pandilla bien conocida MS-13.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Educational, although the story line seems unrealistic in parts. A tragic story.

[Rebeca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor and easy writing but very interesting, specially for young boys who glorify gangs.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More realistic ending than most TPRS novels I've seen, fewer plot holes.

[Sharon Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for spanish 3. Interesting insight into gangs in la

[Megan Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love that this book has pretty simple language that my level 3 and up students could read, but deals with serious modern-world issues.