Brothers in arms

People were starting to gather around, but I blocked them out. Huero was going to wake up. He had to. I touched his cheek. He was still warm, and his skin was soft like when he was a baby. But my fingers left smudges of blood on his face, and his body was limp. "Wake up for your big brother," I said. "Wake up!" A woman screamed in the crowd behind me, and then I heard a voice. "Call an ambulance! That boy's been shot."

La gente empezó a reunirse alrededor, pero yo les bloqueó. Huero iba a despertar. Él tenía que hacerlo. Me tocó la mejilla. Él todavía estaba caliente, y su piel era suave como cuando era un bebé. Pero mis dedos dejaron manchas de sangre en su cara y su cuerpo estaba muy débil. "Despierta a tu hermano mayor", le dije. "¡Despierta!" Una mujer gritó entre la multitud detrás de mí, y entonces oí una voz. "Llame a una ambulancia! Ese chico ha recibido un disparo."

Martin Luna is in deep trouble. Just months ago, a horrible tragedy took his little brother, and now it threatens to take him too. On one side are his desperate mother, a friendly teacher at Bluford High School, and a pretty girl named Vicky. On the other are his old neighborhood and his hunger at a crossroad, with his life hanging in the balance. Which way will he go?

Martín Luna está en serios problemas. Hace apenas unos meses, una horrible tragedia llevó a su hermano pequeño, y ahora amenaza con llevarlo también. Por un lado están su madre desesperada, un profesor amable en Secundaria Bluford, y una linda chica llamada Vicky. Por el otro, su antiguo barrio y su hambre en una encrucijada, con su vida pendiendo de un hilo. ¿Qué camino irá?