I Am a Taxi

For twelve-year-old Diego and his family, home is the San Sebastian Women s Prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents farmed coca, a traditional Bolivian medicinal plant, until they got caught in the middle of the government s war on drugs. Diego s adjusted to his new life. His parents are locked up, but he can come and go: to school, to the market to sell his mother s hand-knitted goods, and to work as a taxi," running errands for other prisoners. But then his little sister runs away, earning his mother a heavy fine. The debt and dawning realization of his hopeless situation make him vulnerable to his friend Mando s plan to make big money, fast. Soon, Diego is deep in the jungle, working as a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation. As his situation becomes more and more dangerous, he knows he must take a terrible risk if he ever wants to see his family again."

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Published: 02/28/2008
ISBN: 9780888997364
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 7.53h x 5.13w x 0.57d

Review Citations: Quill & Quire 09/01/2006 pg. 66
School Library Journal 12/01/2006 pg. 138
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2007 pg. 65
Kliatt 01/01/2007 pg. 22
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2007 pg. 68 - Superior,Well Above Average

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 109350 / I Am a Taxi
Reading Level: 4.8 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 5