Efrain’s Secret

Mehdi Kaldy

1/6/12

Title: “Efrain’s Secret”

Publisher/ Date Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers/ April 13, 2010

Summary: The book I have read, Efrain’s Secret by Sofia Quintero is a Bildungsroman book about a smart young man who attends a High School in New York City. Efrain is the valedictorian of his class and is trying to enter an Ivy League school; his goal is either Harvard or Yale. There is a slight problem that Efrain encounters and that is he has no money to afford College fees. Efrain’s mother can barely afford food and a home for the family and Efrain’s father has bailed on the family, which gives Efrain no choice, but to make a horrible choice on how to make money for college. Efrain starts to work the corner by selling drugs, as he sells drugs, Efrain becomes more vulnerable to the streets and starts hanging around with the wrong people as he tries to raise money.

            As Efrain’s senior year continues, he becomes stressed when he is not making enough money for the college. Efrain struggles with studying for the SAT’s and is underprepared. Efrain also struggles with keeping his secret of selling drugs from his school and most importantly his family because of his friend in the streets, Nestor. Chingy, who is Efrain’s best friend also becomes suspicious as Efrain changes every time they see each other, and so does Efrain’s “girlfriend”, Candace who Efrain loves but is struggling to keep the relationship going. Towards the end of the book, Efrain’s life takes a turn for the worst due to not making enough money for college, losing a friend when Nestor dies. Also, the love of Efrain’s life is gone because his personal focus was money for college and Candace noticed it, which led to the breakup.

Quote: “Not on no sellout s**t either. I see you keeping it real. Representing. You gonna become one of my good friends in high places, aren’t you, E.?” “I swallow. Damn Straight.” (Quintero 59).

Reaction: My reaction to the quote I chose was to explain the path that Efrain chose. The quote shows that Efrain will struggle and has gotten rid of his fears and moral.  The Ivy League school is his goal and there are many bad-minded people on the streets of New York. This makes Efrain’s choice that much more dangerous which leads to his friend, Nestor’s death, a loss in a friend, Chingy, and the loss of his girlfriend, Candace. My reaction concludes with Efrain forgetting about his school life, and his friends, family, focusing more on money and the future of his college life.