The Cholo Tree

by Daniel Chacon

"Do you know what a stereotype you are?" Jessica asks her son. "You're the existential Chicano." Fourteen-year-old Victor has just been released from the hospital; his chest is wrapped in bandages and his arm is in a sling. He has barely survived being shot, and his mother accuses him of being a cholo , something he denies.


She's not the only adult that thinks he's a gangbanger. His sociology teacher once sent him to a teach-in on gang violence. Victor's philosophy is that everyone is racist. "They see a brown kid, they see a banger." Even other kids think he's in a gang, maybe because of the clothes he wears. The truth is, he loves death (metal, that is), reading books, drawing, the cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz and the Showtime series Weeds . He likes school and cooking. He knows what a double negative is!


But he can't convince his mom that he's not in a gang. And in spite of a genius girlfriend and an art teacher who mentors and encourages him to apply to art schools, Victor can't seem to overcome society's expectations for him.


In this compelling novel, renowned Chicano writer Daniel Chacon once again explores art, death, ethnicity and racism. Are Chicanos meant for meth houses instead of art schools? Are talented Chicanos never destined to study in Paris?

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2017

Reviews

[Tony Waitkus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts off with him exiting the hospital being all bandaged up and his arm in a sling. Victor is growing up in this rough neighborhood. His mom Jessica has to work all the time to support him and maintain the roof over his head. She is a very protective mom especially after what happened with the hospital and all. Jessica is not a real big fan of Victors friend group either. The moral behind the story is Victor is not the type of kid to be in a gang. He is more of a creative and independent. Victor liked to paint and he even picked up cooking for his mom Jessica. As you read this book you will be able to understand how friend groups can have such a huge impact on just one person. If you want to see what I mean check it out you wont be disappointed.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because it had an interesting first line but the narration was disconnected for me. The story is about a young boy Victor who believes he is unfairly stereotyped as a gangbanger but he does very little to stop this stereotype- he dresses like a thug, he smokes pot, hangs out with other gangsters BUT he sometimes reads books, draws, cooks and has a brief relationship with a girl who will be going to college. I believe the author had a responsibility to show young people can escape this life by portraying a positive story but Victor destroyed his relationship and trust with his mom and girlfriend to only fall into the lifestyle of a gang without being officially "jumped in." I hated the narration and how each situation was disconnected from a storyline. Some stories didn't add any character development while others annoyingly portrayed relationships for side characters that didn't matter. Honestly, this book could have been more engaging if the author scrapped the whole fighting stereotypes theme because it seems fake, outdated, and simply insulting to those of us that lived in those neighborhoods and got out simply because we had more respect for our family, religion and education to drag us down.

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were so many copy editing mistakes it felt like a high school paper. If I DNFed books, this may have been one but I really enjoyed hearing Daniel Chacón speak at an author event and awesome that he teaches at UTEP, but the stories may have been better as a short story collection because of jumping around. The third part was totally different with a magical realism aspect to it. It just felt really messy. Two stars for liking Victor as a character and for Daniel Chacon, he seems like a nice guy.

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourteen-year-old Victor is an aspiring artist and cook in his low income, gang filled neighborhood and, like most kids his age, doesn’t like school. He was very close to his father who was killed when Victor was very young, and holds his mother at an emotional distance. Though not a cholo (gang member) she believes he is one, and doesn’t trust him. Read the rest of the review on my blog: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress....

[Kyle Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The criticisms of this book are fair, especially that it could have used one good editor and one really good copy editor. But the good outweighed the bad for me. I especially like the narrator's struggle with his art, and many of the relationships felt genuine.

[Read InAGarden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about a young man learning about himself as he matures in the world.

[Ray Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good novel by Daniel Chacon. Daniel has a way of making his writing so vivid.

[Lori Ketcham · Rating 1 out of 5]

The novel was all over the place- jumped too quickly into many different situations.

[Lisa Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an eye-opener. I liked seeing the world through Victor’s eyes, and I loved the concept of wormholes and memories.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars!!!!!!! It was very good, part 4 was a bit slow but overall the story surrounding Victor was very real and also made me thinking about the bigger picture of life and creativity.

[Ricardo Medina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brings out the chicano hardship and how their world is from the inside out. It shows the dark side of the chicano world. The abuse, the horrible side that no one wants to talk about. It's not "in your face" or shoving the "-ism" down your throat, just states the norm of that piece of the world. Victor portrays perfectly individualism, as in the character takes the reader to all kinds of perspectives of Chicano and parts of the culture.

We all need a Mr. Garcia to help one out