Misjudged

Series Name: Urban Underground-Cesar Chavez High Series

Theme: Hi-Lo, High school, neighborhoods, family, loyalty, friendship, urban teen fiction, self esteem, parental relationships, life's pressures, running away, prejudice

Mona Lisa is average. Not pretty. Not ugly. She's very insecure and lacks self confidence. Mona's mom harps on her to start dating. Then Julio begins to show an interest in her. He's on the track team and a close friend of Ernesto's. When Mona returns Julio's interest, though, her mom is upset because Julio is not from a good family. He's poor. His father is practically a bum. They live in a mobile home, and not the plush kind. Not the type of "people" Mrs. Corsella approves of. And she hatches a plan to get her daughter to date someone more socially acceptable. Mona becomes defiant, running away from home. Her mom is convinced she's been kidnapped by Julio. But Julio turns out to be the hero when Mona calls him to rescue her in Phoenix after she is approached by a smarmy guy and loses all of her cash.

ISBN-13: 9781622507641

Format: Paperback

Grade Level: Teen and YA

Approximate Grade-Level Equivalent for Series: 3.5

Lexile Level: HL720L

Key Words/ Themes: High School, Neighborhoods, Family, Loyalty, Friendship, Urban Teen Fiction, Self-Esteem, Parental Relationships, Pressure, Running Away, Prejudice, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult, Chapter Book, Hi-Lo, Hi-Lo Books, Hi-Lo Solutions, High-Low Books, Hi-Low Books, ELL, EL, ESL, Struggling Learner, Struggling Reader, Special Education, SPED, Newcomers, Reading, Learning, Education, Educational, Educational Books