Review By Alice
Twelve year old Miguel lives with his single mother, sisters and the men who rent all the floor space from his mother. She was already a mess before her older son, Juan, was shot and killed at age 15 Miguel believes Juan was killed by a gang increasingly his grief begins to consume him whilst distracted in school by thoughts of what happened, he is suddenly overwhelmed by a sense that his brother is inside him. Juan’s ghost is there to listen to Miguel’s thoughts and direct his actions.
Tribute is a very fast paced novel with multiple storylines happening at once. It has some quite dark moments but is still very informative of gang life in northern California and how kids and teens so easily get caught up in it all. It is also very supernatural with its demons and ghosts and resurrected priests.
It has some swearing so would be suitable for ages 12-14 but I think it really depends if the children’s parents want them to read a book with swearing as everyone’s parents have different views.