ABOUT CRAZY LOCO
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
2001 PEN USA Children’s Literature Award Finalist
Crazy Loco is a powerful collection of short stories telling the tales of a Mexican-American childhood ideal for fans of Gary Soto
Welcome to Southern Texas. Meet Loco, a dog with a passion for firecrackers. And Pedro, an altar boy forced to lean a hard lesson from two of the toughest, oldest men ever to serve the Lord. Jordan and Todd are two boys from California who don’t know what they’re in for when they push their Texas cousins a little too far. Loosely based on the author’s own childhood as a Mexican-American boy in south Texas, this story collection is a moving whirlwind of humor and insight–brash, tender, and full of the unexpected.
”Rice’s work also deserves praise for presenting a slice of Mexican-American life that is neither over-romanticized, operating as a veiled and vitriolic social commentary, or tainted with easy nostalgia.” —The Austin Chronicle
“Nine slice of life stories, told from multiple points of view and in different voices, resonate with the sounds and sights of a Mexican-American childhood spent in South Texas.”-VOYA
“Rice…blends humor and precise detail, creating believable imperfect, complex characters that are once rowdy, subversive, and devoted to family and tradition.”-Booklist
“A powerful collection that should enjoy a wide audience.” –School Library Journal
About Heart-Shaped Cookies and Other Stories
David Rice’s new collection is his textbook created to help teachers and students learn the David Rice Method of deconstruction analysis. The book consists of seven short stories, nine flash fiction pieces, and a play written by Mike D. García based on Rice’s short story “She Flies.”
Rice skillfully balances humor and sensitivity in his writing, and his imaginative tales and colorful characters appeal to young readers on many levels. Culture and place figure prominently in these narratives; most are set in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and explore issues encountered in contemporary Mexican American life near the border.
The author’s distinctive wit and style are apparent throughout the collection and are sure to secure his place in Chicano literature.
About Give the Pig a Chance and Other Stories
David Rice maintains a skillful balance of humor and sensitivity in Give the Pig a Chance. The title story, in which two estranged cousins are reunited after the accidental death of a beloved pot-bellied pig, displays Rice's knack for combining the ridiculous with pathos. Most of the stories are set in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
This book is intended for mature audiences.