Trudy
Winner of the Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature, this is the tale of a girl's
struggles with school and changing friendships, as well as her heartfelt emotions that
arise from helping her mother make tough decisions after her father is diagnosed with
Alzheimer's.
* Milkweed Prize for Children's Fiction
* IRA Children's Book Award Notables
Winner of the Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature, this is the tale of a girl's
struggles with school and changing friendships, as well as her heartfelt emotions that
arise from helping her mother make tough decisions after her father is diagnosed with
Alzheimer's.
* Milkweed Prize for Children's Fiction
* IRA Children's Book Award Notables
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Books
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ISBN: 9781571316608
Available Fall 2009
Manz is sure of one thing—he lives on the wrong side of the tracks in dusty Rockhill,
Texas. Life is tough for everyone—his hard-drinking mother, her truck-driving boyfriend,
even his privileged friend Jed—but especially for Manz, the mixed-race son of migrant
apple pickers. If he could only get out of town, his life would be better.
When the summer heat sets in, Manz and Jed take a job rebuilding fence for a cattle
ranch outside town. There he meets Vanessa, who works in the ranch's kitchen. The
two hit it off, but Manz isn't sure he can trust her. As the dog days drag on, Manz must
negotiate an unwieldy terrain involving an unpredictable, alcoholic mother, a best friend
whose father uses him as a punching bag, and a simmering, creeping delusion that
"Operation Wetback"—which brutally relocated illegal aliens deep in Mexican territory
following World War II—has been put back into effect. Manz's bright and questioning
mind begins to give in to its own claustrophobic temptations as he finds guidance in the
voices that have been growing louder and more insistent each day.
Manz is sure of one thing—he lives on the wrong side of the tracks in dusty Rockhill,
Texas. Life is tough for everyone—his hard-drinking mother, her truck-driving boyfriend,
even his privileged friend Jed—but especially for Manz, the mixed-race son of migrant
apple pickers. If he could only get out of town, his life would be better.
When the summer heat sets in, Manz and Jed take a job rebuilding fence for a cattle
ranch outside town. There he meets Vanessa, who works in the ranch's kitchen. The
two hit it off, but Manz isn't sure he can trust her. As the dog days drag on, Manz must
negotiate an unwieldy terrain involving an unpredictable, alcoholic mother, a best friend
whose father uses him as a punching bag, and a simmering, creeping delusion that
"Operation Wetback"—which brutally relocated illegal aliens deep in Mexican territory
following World War II—has been put back into effect. Manz's bright and questioning
mind begins to give in to its own claustrophobic temptations as he finds guidance in the
voices that have been growing louder and more insistent each day.