Hector and his best friend Mondo enjoy many exciting adventures when they take a six-day bike trip from their East Los Angeles neighborhood to the Santa Monica beach during summer vacation.
Mark Salzman chronicles his first years teaching at Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for Los Angeles's most violent teenage offenders, discussing what his students taught him about life.
a lost dream, an unlikely friendship, and the redemptive power of music
Lopez, Steve
2008
"Los Angeles Times" columnist Steve Lopez shares the story of his relationship with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless violinist who captured his attention playing a two-stringed instrument on Skid Row, discussing his attempts to help Ayers--once a promising student at Juilliard--reclaim the life he was forced to give up following a mental breakdown.
Harry Bosch, newly transferred to the Homicide Special Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, is faced with the task of breaking in a rookie partner while investigating the murder of a physicist who had access to radioactive cesium, a substance coveted by terrorists.
The author recounts his growing up in poverty in Los Angeles, his encounters with racism in school and on the streets, and his struggle to overcome prejudice, drugs, and violence.
In Watts, California, over a period of many years, a man known to all as Uncle Sam spends his free time collecting broken bits of pottery, glass, and other scraps and turning them into a work of art.
