"A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Ricardo Chavira writes in his memoir about the challenges growing up in a marginalized community in Pacoima, California, where he attended a high school notorious for gang violence and inadequate teaching. Against all the odds, he managed to reject gang affiliation, avoid serious crimes, evade the Vietnam War draft and earn undergraduate and graduate degrees. He became passionate about journalism because it gave him the chance to report about the lives of Latinos that mainstream American media either ignored or misrepresented" -- Backcover. "This easily digestible book will appeal to those interested in the geopolitical conflicts of Latin America as told from the knowledgeable perspective of someone who was there. An informative portrayal of a life spent telling the stories of others." -- Kirkus Reviews RICARDO CHAVIRA is an award-winning journalist who wrote for news outlets such as Time magazine and the Dallas Morning News . Raised in southern California as a third-generation Mexican American, his bilingual-bicultural understanding allowed him to serve as a bridge between Latino and Anglo-American cultures. He currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. This is his first book.