  | When we ride : a novel Author: Ogle, Rex | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
Diego Benevides works hard in school and on his job to honor his single mom's encouragement to prepare for college to escape their crumbling neighborhood. That's why she gave him her car. Diego's best friend, Lawson, gets Diego to drive him around so Lawson can deal weed. But when Lawson starts dealing more serious drugs, their friendship is tested and their lives are threatened.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (04/01/25)
School Library Journal (+) (03/07/25)
Booklist (00/03/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 12/16/2024 While college-bound Mexican American Diego plays by the rules, Lawson, who is white, deals drugs to get by. Despite their perceived differences, both grew up in financially unstable homes without their fathers, a similarity that binds them together. As such, Diego feels it’s his responsibility to persuade Lawson to pursue a less dangerous lifestyle; he bargains, cajoles, and even threatens Lawson as they drive around in Diego’s 1980 Cadillac DeVille. As the work cycles on, Diego struggles with the idea of embarking on a future that could require abandoning his best friend. Using simple language with short lines and sparkling imagery ("fluorescent lights/ that break the dark of midnight"), Ogle (Abuela, Don’t Forget Me) portrays the boys’ circumstances with gritty frankness, positing on how, for some families, hard choices don’t feel like choices at all: the money Lawson makes is the only thing paying his and his mother’s rent. In this riveting, at times heartbreaking verse novel, Ogle delivers an affecting portrait of two "ride or die" friends in dire circumstances for whom the phrase becomes scarily literal. Ages 14-up. Agent: Brent Taylor, Triada US. (Mar.) - Copyright 2024
School Library Journal - 03/07/2025 Gr 9 Up—Diego "Benny" Benevides and his best friend, Lawson, have considered each other brothers ever since a bullying incident as elementary students. Now seniors in high school, both boys are struggling to help their single mothers by following vastly different paths. Benny's alcoholic mom tells him "Don't be like me. Be better." He is very studious, working for low wages at a diner, striving to go to college and make her proud. She takes the bus to work so she can give her son "Maria Carmen," her 1980 Cadillac DeVille, to help him meet those goals. Meanwhile, Lawson is not interested in school and makes his money selling weed. When he first asks Benny for rides, it seems more benign but selling spirals quickly into heavier drugs. Lawson cannot say no to his controlling and violent dealer, Trent. Benny's gripping introspective conflict between his own future and loyalty to Lawson is palpable. The novel in verse format is perfect for this character-driven, issue-oriented storyline mash-up, as readers delve deep into the battle playing out in the protagonist's mind. Ogle is exceptionally skillful at inviting readers into the emotional intensity of each decision Benny makes, with addiction and poverty laid raw using spare, carefully selected free verse. This pairs well with similarly themed verse novels where decision-making is paramount, like Jason Reynolds's Long Way Down and Ellen Hopkins's classic "Crank" series. VERDICT A gritty and nuanced glimpse into the underbelly of poverty, addiction, and gun violence.—Lisa Krok - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
