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6th out of 10 books
—
5 voters
The Brothers Torres
Frankie Towers has always looked up to his older brother, Steve, and with good reason. Steve is a popular senior who always gets what he wants: girls, a soccer scholarship, and--lately--street cred. Frankie, on the other hand, spends his time shooting off fireworks with his best friend Zach, working at his parents' restaurant, and obsessing about his longtime crush, Rebecc...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
April 29th 2008
by Disney-Hyperion
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I thought that this book was a nice read I think that there were some words that I was unable to understand because they were in a different language. I enjoyed reading this book because I got relate to it. This book was about a boy named Frankie Towers. He always looked up to his older brother Steve. Everybody wanted to be Steve, he played on the soccer team and all the girls wanted to be with him, he had a scholarship and he was one of the best soccer players on the teem. But Steves brother Fr...more
This Book is about Frankie Torres (torres is spanish for towers) lives in Borges, New Mexico where there is not much to do. Two brothers and the people in their town. Frankie is not that muscular, not athletic, not so sure of himself or as popular as his brother Steve a senior. But he is okay looking. Frankie has his sights on a hot girl named Rebecca. He is just about to ask her to homecoming but Dalton an preppy, rich kid, asks her first. Steve is cool but not so cool that he has the respect o...more
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Sophmore Frankie looks up to his older brother Steve who is a a popular senior and soccer star. But he resents him as well. Their parents don't make Steve work at their Mexican restarant and even gave him a car, while Frankie has to make due with his brother's hand-me-down bike. But things change when Steve starts hanging out with the local "Cholos." He stays out all night and seems to be mixed up in some dangerous activities--and now he wants Frankie to follow suit. Frankie is torn between want...more
I picked up this book after seeing it on many book lists and wanted to add it to my classroom library. Unfortunately, I think that I am at least ten years too old to appreciate this book. As an adult, I think this book is what most would expect from a young adult novel. There was a real lack of plot and character development and was filled with trivial internal dialogue, when that was the area that much plot and theme development could have been had. There were so many instances where a deeper a...more
Brothers Frankie and Steve Towers live in Borges, New Mexico. Frankie is a self- conscious, awkward freshman who isn’t very popular at school, unlike his older brother Steve, whom Frankie looks up to. Steve is a senior who is popular, friendly with the ladies, has a soccer scholarship, and respect from the cholos. Unfortunately, Steve doesn't have time for his brother Frankie anymore with his current image to keep up with. So Frankie spends most of his time with his friend Zach shooting off fir...more
"Steve and I used to stay up at night trying to decide which superpower would be the best. Superhuman strength? Telepathy? Shape-shifting? We'd argue about the benefits and drawbacks of Green Lantern's ring, or try to figure out how Iceman moved forward on his floating ice sidewalk.
"But now I realize that we missed the obvious. The best power of all is time travel. You're going to screw up, whether you can fly or not, whether you have spidey sense or X-ray vision or adamantium claws, and the onl...more
"But now I realize that we missed the obvious. The best power of all is time travel. You're going to screw up, whether you can fly or not, whether you have spidey sense or X-ray vision or adamantium claws, and the onl...more
I recently read this book I highly recommend it as I find it really interesting. I love the relationship between Frankie and his brother Steven. Frankie really looks up to his brother as he is very good with the ladies and is a great athlete.
Frankie is a not so popular kid who has a best friend named Zach and do dumb things together. Frankie is also obsessed with some girl named Rebecca. Steven is a popular senior who gets girls, soccer scholarships, and street credit. He is trying to get respe...more
Frankie is a not so popular kid who has a best friend named Zach and do dumb things together. Frankie is also obsessed with some girl named Rebecca. Steven is a popular senior who gets girls, soccer scholarships, and street credit. He is trying to get respe...more
The Brother Torres is a novel by Coert Voorhees it is about a boy named Frankie who has a crush on the most beautiful girl in his High school. The only problem is that he doesn't know how to ask her to homecoming because he is to nervous to do it. He also has an older brother that he is kind of jealous of because the manages to fit in everywhere he goes and he can get whatever girl. After Frankie helps his brother from getting surprised attacked he helps him become one of the more popular kids....more
Aug 27, 2010
Keli
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
action,
moral-choices,
power,
psychological,
relationships,
romance,
self-image,
young-adult
I really wanted to like this book. I offers up an underrespresented voice in literature. But the author was too cognizant of this. Too often the narrator descirbes what it's like where he lives. So that rather than being drawn into it, the reader is left feeling like a tourist. The use of Spanglish was charming and added to authenticy of the book. But the characters were flat archetypes, especially the beautiful and sweet love interest. We never find out what exactly is going on with the older b...more
I was so ready to be excited about a teen book set in New Mexico, and this one already has a starred review in School Library Journal and is a YALSA Top Ten Book for young adults.
I think the characters are intriguing, but the high density of vulgar language was a complete distraction. On page 55, I finally stopped reading, after encountering "sh*t," two uses of "h*ll," "*ss" and no less than 3 uses of "p*ssy," (and that was on just two pages!) Couple that with many casual references to behavior...more
I think the characters are intriguing, but the high density of vulgar language was a complete distraction. On page 55, I finally stopped reading, after encountering "sh*t," two uses of "h*ll," "*ss" and no less than 3 uses of "p*ssy," (and that was on just two pages!) Couple that with many casual references to behavior...more
Frankie has always looked up to his big brother, Steve. Steve has it all: charisma, girls, looks, and even soccer scholarships waiting for him. But recently, Steve has been hanging out with some bad dudes from town and Frankie isn't sure how to handle it. Does he confirm his parents' worrying suspicions or assume that Steve knows what he's doing? Thank goodness he has his best friend, Zach, who knows him better than anyone else. And then there's Rebecca, Frankie's one and only crush. Will she se...more
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I was surprised that I liked this book. I expected gratuitous swearing and violence, but didn't find it. There is some violence, but it is essential to the plot. The characters are well developed and the ending isn't obvious from page ten. I don't have much firsthand knowledge of the urban latino neighborhood but this story seems pretty true to life. It showed the difficulties of separating race and class issues, growing up with one latino parent and one gringo parent, trying to earn respect in...more
After some 60-odd pages, I gave up. Two reasons, chiefly. One, I checked under the furniture, under the hood, and under the volcano for a plot, but couldn't find one. It read like a tape of buddy badinage liberally sprinkled with Spanish slang I don't know (hell, I barely know legitimate Spanish words, never mind slang).
More importantly, I realized I cannot use this book even in an 8th grade classroom library. Profanity I can handle in small doses, but it was pretty constant, and the sexual allu...more
More importantly, I realized I cannot use this book even in an 8th grade classroom library. Profanity I can handle in small doses, but it was pretty constant, and the sexual allu...more
I love these characters. Frankie is a 15-year-old kid living in New Mexico, wanting to be cooler than he is, pining after a girl that's out of his league, and desperately wanting his older brother to notice him. He's such a flawed and lovable nerd, and such a well written character, that you really feel like you're right beside him making all the same bad decisions. Even the supporting characters--his brother Steve, friend Zach, and love interest Rebecca--are really well developed and fleshed ou...more
It's been awhile since I read a YA novel based on the recommendation of an actual YA. After three of my "reluctant reader" Latino students plowed through this, I had to give it a look. I can see why they liked it (checking out girls' chests! swearing! fighting! blowing stuff up!), and what impressed me was that it was realistic about how tough life is without going all Hemingway depressive about it. Life is hard, events spiral out of control, the nasty guys, not the good guys, finish first...but...more
Didn't know what to expect, but I am really impressed by this book. The plot was well paced, never a dull moment, yet the book did not feel like it was plot driven but rather felt like a deep dive into the character and personality of the protagonist. The use of first person voice really helped draw me into the world and thoughts of the main character Frankie.
This is a great coming of age story that touches on many issues facing young people-- race, gangs, income disparities, sex, dating, popula...more
This is a great coming of age story that touches on many issues facing young people-- race, gangs, income disparities, sex, dating, popula...more
Holy crap, hilarious book, true to life with none of the often extra explanation that is so often thrown into YA books. Frankie Torres Towers and his brother, Steve, live in a small town in New Mexico with their parents who run a restaurant. Frankie tells his story, which focuses on a girl, of course, and how a not-so-hip guy with a much cooler, soccer star brother struggles to get those fickle high school ladies to pay attention to him. Needless to say, he gets in a lot of fights. But Frankie's...more
The book I read was the brothers Torres and it was written by Coert Voorhees. It was published by Disney • Hyperion Books in 2009. My opinion of this book is that it was very interesting because it is a different lifestyle but you can still relate. It was a CRF book so the setting was New Mexico and High School. The main characters of the story were: Frankie and Steve. The story began with Frankie talking about how much he like Rebecca. The conflict was that his brother was letting his power and...more
Honestly, I judged this book by its cover. I expected not to like it at all. And since I avoid reading the book summaries on the flap, I did not really know what I was getting into here. Turns out, this is a great book. I love the easy intermingling of Spanish and English, the depiction of natives, Mexicans and whites co-existing, or attempting to coexist. It is gritty, yet innocent, painful yet hopeful. It grants a taste of big business overtaking mom and pop shops and its impact on the communi...more
15-year-old Frankie idolizes Steve, his soccer-star older brother. However, Steve has been changing -- instead of hanging out with his best buddy, Cheo, Steve has started to hang out with a tough group of cholos. Frankie tries to build a more equal relationship with his brother while also developing a (very sweet) relationship with a girl he has long crushed on, Rebecca. Unfortunately, events started by Steve, swirl around and Frankie is caught up in things beyond his control. This book was actu...more
This was a decent young adult book but not particularly well suited to ESL students. While the main character, Frankie (Francisco) is growing up in a biracial Mexican/American family, his problems are not necessarily related to the immigrant experience. The book does have interesting themes of racial tension, the need to earn "respect", and what it really means to be tough. There's enough violence, swears, and sex to keep reluctant readers engaged. Could be a good addition to a classroom library...more
I really enjoed this book i was so hooked i loved it! the brothers torres is about Frankie and Steve. Frankie is Steves younger brother and Frankie looks up to Steve because he has a scholarship and hes popular and plays on the Varsity soccer team you can say that Steve has it all. but lately Steve has been acting strange and one day Frankie and Steve go to a party and thats when Frankie earns respect from his brother and from other people that he didnt ever expect to talk to. Frankie likes this...more
Starred Review. Grade 9 Up—Frankie Torres Towers knows his older brother, Steve, is endangering his college scholarship by staying out all night with the local cholos and picking fights with his soccer teammates. Accepting of his sibling's good looks and macho charm, Frankie figures Steve is just looking for respect and covers for him, deflecting his parents' questions and picking up the slack at Los Torres, the family's New Mexican restaurant. Frankie's primary obsession is getting a date with...more
This multicultural fiction novel from Coert Voorhees was great! The cover of the book with the tattoo will have teens taking the book just because they like the cover. I really enjoyed Frankie Towers. He was funny, honest, blind to his brother's and parent's shortcomings and the target of school bully, John Dalton. John Dalton has everything Frankie doesn't. He has money, good looks, and Rebecca Sanchez, who Frankie obsesses over how to talk to her, ask her out, etc. Frankie is a good kid but he...more
The cover is deceptive. This is not another Latino teen gang book . Ugh! This is a book about a working class family in New Mexico who happen to be Latino. The protagonist is good natured and family focussed, who works hard in his family's restaurant. His older brother is a rising star athlete with the promise of a college scholarship who is infatuated with some cholo types. The story focuses more on classism and socioeconomic stratification than racism. Lots of good scents, sights and sounds; e...more
Frankie Towers is an awkward and self-conscious guy who’s low on the social ladder, unlike his older brother Steve. That’s why Frankie looks up to Steve so much; Steve seems to have it all: popularity, girls, a soccer scholarship, even respect from the dangerous cholos. Unfortunately, Steve doesn’t have time for his brother Frankie anymore with his current image to uphold. But when Frankie makes an enemy of rich white boy John Dalton, Steve steps in to help his brother. Although Frankie’s social...more
Reviewed by Breanna F. for TeensReadToo.com
Frankie and Steve Towers are brothers. Frankie is a freshman and Steve is a senior. Frankie has always looked up to his older brother, who has gotten a soccer scholarship, is one of the most popular guys in school, and is very friendly with the ladies. Frankie spends most of his time with his friend Zach shooting off fireworks in his back yard while Zach's mom makes them Kool-Aid flavored popsicles. The remainder of his time is put in to trying to impre...more
Frankie and Steve Towers are brothers. Frankie is a freshman and Steve is a senior. Frankie has always looked up to his older brother, who has gotten a soccer scholarship, is one of the most popular guys in school, and is very friendly with the ladies. Frankie spends most of his time with his friend Zach shooting off fireworks in his back yard while Zach's mom makes them Kool-Aid flavored popsicles. The remainder of his time is put in to trying to impre...more
Nov 30, 2010
Junieth
added it
This book is about 3 brothers that are totally different from themselfs.
Francisco is the middle one and he's trying tobe cool in school beacuse he likes this girl name Rebecca but Rebecca only sees him as a friend but his in love with her even though she don't like him. His other brother hangs out with "cholos" and her mom does't know about it.
I like this book beacuse it was intresting and funny. The three brothers weretotally differentfrom themselfs and that's why it wasintresting for me.
Francisco is the middle one and he's trying tobe cool in school beacuse he likes this girl name Rebecca but Rebecca only sees him as a friend but his in love with her even though she don't like him. His other brother hangs out with "cholos" and her mom does't know about it.
I like this book beacuse it was intresting and funny. The three brothers weretotally differentfrom themselfs and that's why it wasintresting for me.
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| The Brothers Torres Love It? Or Hate it? | 1 | 4 | Sep 25, 2011 11:42am |
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“It's like they think we're still five years old, coloring in kindergarten, and all the kids get cupcakes whether its their birthday or not. Maybe its a kind of self-preservation. If parents actually knew what their kids were like, they'd probably shoot themselves in the head.”
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7 people liked it
“It's weird going to school with rich people. On the surface, you're jealous. You want to be like them, you want to have the things they have, wear the clothes they wear, and drive the cars they drive. But somewhere in the back of your head, you realize that you don't want to be the one everybody looks at and says to themselves, "I can't stand that fucker." So you're left wanting to be just like them and hating every bone in their bodies at the same time.”
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4 people liked it
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Feb 23, 2010 01:45pm