Marci
Cruz, 11, is determined, sincere, and funny without meaning to be. She
speaks Spanglish sometimes and makes up her own terms for sex stuff.
Like many kids, she notices how the community treats people who are
different and people who ask questions that no one wants to answer.
Marci
and her younger sister, Corin, get frequent beatings from their father.
Their mother is aware, but is blind to his faults. Marci prays to god
to get her father out of her life forever. She doesn’t go as far as
wanting her dad to be dead because she doesn’t want god to think badly
of her. She needs god's help to change her into a boy, which she
believes will allow her to live out her attraction to girls.
Although
the well-described beatings continue and helpful adults seem to be
missing, all is not hopeless. The two girls, Marci and Corin, work
together on inventive ways to help their mother come to her senses about
their dad. Marci also manages to get to the library, make a garden,
and have a crush.--Joy Ferguson
Joy Ferguson has worked with detained youth as both an outreach librarian and a facility staff member. She currently serves students as a school librarian at PS 261 Phillip Livingston School.
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