When Iggy Corso gets kicked out of high school, there's no one for him to tell. His mother has gone off, his father is stoned on the couch, and the phone's been disconnected, so even the social worker can't get through. Leaving his public housing behind, Iggy ventures into the world to make something of his life. It's not easy when you're sixteen, have no skills, and your only friend is mixed up with the dealer who got your mom hooked. But Iggy is . . . Iggy, and he has the kind of wisdom that lets him see what no one else can. Includes an author's note.
I LOVED "Saint Iggy", and I don't say that lightly. Iggy was lost from the start. He was born to a drug addicted mother and an alcoholic father. Although there was no physical abuse he was raised in a roach infested drug house and basically left to raise himself. He didn't have the good fortune to be intelligent or talented and was never taught to think before acting. His impetuous nature gets him into trouble so many times that he gets kicked out of school. With no place else to go, he goes to get help from an adult friend that needs help even more than Iggy.
This book should be required reading for every teacher, or other adults who have contact with young people. It does a great job of portraying how a young man from unfortunate circumstances views the world and himself and will help you view some of these kids with different eyes.
Randy "Igmund" Corso is a third-year freshman with a colorful track record at school. When you have a record like he does, teachers can lie about you, and no one believes you, especially not the court system that's supposed to decide if you're expelled from school or not. With the way everyone treats him, you'd think he's a bad kid, but he's not. He attends class, sometimes. He doesn't use drugs, even though he was born addicted. He does his best to stay away from his father's drug dealer Freddie, who is always knocking on their door looking for money.
With his dad most likely passed out drunk or high at home and his mom "visiting someone" somewhere, Iggy doesn't have anyone to tell when he gets indefinitely suspended from high school for an offense he didn't commit. Even the social worker can't get through because the phone has been disconnected.
With a few days until the hearing, Iggy turns to his friend Montell, a law school dropout from the rich side of town who is investing his time in pot and philosophy. Iggy needs a plan to straighten out his life, but that's more difficult done than said for a 16-year-old with no skills or money who has just been kicked out of school. His makeshift plan is to:
1) make a plan
2) get out of the projects
3) do something with my life
4) change everyone's mind about me
5) get back into school
During the week before Christmas, Iggy drags himself around the city looking for answers and enlightenment. He keeps thinking about his principal, who told him to "do something that contributes to the world." That seems like such an easy thing to do until he tries it.
How exactly can one kid do something to contribute? What if he's never had any examples to follow? What if the only differences he can make are too small for anyone to notice? And does it even matter if people notice?
Author of the Printz Honor Book FAT KID RULES THE WORLD, K. L. Going has put together another enjoyable read. The contrast of Iggy's dark urban world against Mo's posh lifestyle provides the story with an ideal backdrop for a grim hero like this to emerge. An entertaining novel with more depth than you'd imagine at first glance, SAINT IGGY takes the life of a fringe-living outcast from the projects and makes him someone unforgettable.
Randy "Igmund" Corso is a third-year freshman with a colorful track record at school. When you have a record like he does, teachers can lie about you, and no one believes you, especially not the court system that's supposed to decide if you're expelled from school or not. With the way everyone treats him, you'd think he's a bad kid, but he's not. He attends class, sometimes. He doesn't use drugs, even though he was born addicted. He does his best to stay away from his father's drug dealer Freddie, who is always knocking on their door looking for money.
With his dad most likely passed out drunk or high at home and his mom "visiting someone" somewhere, Iggy doesn't have anyone to tell when he gets indefinitely suspended from high school for an offense he didn't commit. Even the social worker can't get through because the phone has been disconnected.
With a few days until the hearing, Iggy turns to his friend Montell, a law school dropout from the rich side of town who is investing his time in pot and philosophy. Iggy needs a plan to straighten out his life, but that's more difficult done than said for a 16-year-old with no skills or money who has just been kicked out of school. His makeshift plan is to:
1) make a plan
2) get out of the projects
3) do something with my life
4) change everyone's mind about me
5) get back into school
During the week before Christmas, Iggy drags himself around the city looking for answers and enlightenment. He keeps thinking about his principal, who told him to "do something that contributes to the world." That seems like such an easy thing to do until he tries it.
How exactly can one kid do something to contribute? What if he's never had any examples to follow? What if the only differences he can make are too small for anyone to notice? And does it even matter if people notice?
Author of the Printz Honor Book FAT KID RULES THE WORLD, K. L. Going has put together another enjoyable read. The contrast of Iggy's dark urban world against Mo's posh lifestyle provides the story with an ideal backdrop for a grim hero like this to emerge. An entertaining novel with more depth than you'd imagine at first glance, SAINT IGGY takes the life of a fringe-living outcast from the projects and makes him someone unforgettable.
