Raised in pre-gentrification Spanish Harlem, Julio struggles to break free of his secret life as an arsonist, while pastor Maritza sells illegal U.S. citizenships to undocumented immigrants.

Product Description: In this affecting collection of poetry and prose, Nuyorican poet Miguel Algarin crafts beautifully angry, sad pieces about injustice and loss. While warning his compatriots about the unreality of the American Dream, he acknowledges that "we are the pistons that / move the roughage through Uncle / Sam's intestines, we keep the flow / of New York happening / we are its muscles...read more

Product Description: In a stunning narrative combining the gritty rhythms of Junot Diaz with the noir genius of Walter Mosley, Bodega Dreams pulls us into Spanish Harlem, where the word is out: Willie Bodega is king.  Need college tuition for your daughter?  Start-up funds for your fruit stand?  Bodega can help...read more

Raised in pre-gentrification Spanish Harlem, Julio struggles to break free of his secret life as an arsonist and falls in love with a white woman who symbolizes his pious beliefs, while pastor Maritza sells illegal U.S. citizenships to undocumented immigrants, an operation that begins to unravel when she falls in love with a married man.

Chino, a promising young Latino, finds himself drawn into the dangerous world of Willy Bodega, ruler of Spanish Harlem, and torn between his loyalties to his pregnant Pentecostal wife and the promises of the barrio ringleader.