The Black Hand (Teen/Non-Fiction)

Released September 2009

www.harpercollins.com

Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth

Truthfully, THE BLACK HAND is a non-fiction book aimed at adults, however I do feel it has tremendous benefit to many older teens. I live in a quiet family neighborhood, but I've become concerned in past years with teens around here glorifying gang life, saying how cool it would be to have that much power. Those teens, I think, would benefit from reading this book. Unlike the papers that most of those kids avoid, I know many would read this because the story comes from one of the Mexican Mafia's biggest players.

Chris Blatchford offers the biography of Rene "Boxer" Enriquez, a man who will spend his life in prison for murders and various other crimes committed while he was a member of the Mexican Mafia (La Eme.) It is because I've heard kids say how cool it would be that I think many teen readers might want to learn the cold, hard truth regarding gang life.

With this said, I wouldn't let teens read it without also having mom or dad read it. The book has rather graphic photographs, part of why I started reading it. One of the pictures involves the crime scene where a young mother and her two children, five and six months, lie dead. It's hard to make out the baby and you really don't see the other child, but just knowing they were killed in that room horrified me. What kind of monster kills a six month old child all because "dad" did wrong.

The book is powerful, gripping and definitely lets you in on a life that no person should live. I wouldn't recommend it for the younger crowd, but age 16 and up, I definitely think they could learn the stark truth about gang life.