Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood

Sáenz, B. A. (2004). Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood is about Sammy Santos who lives in New Mexico, who lives in the 60's. The story begins with the infatuation he has for Juliana and the story later explains the experiences he has to go through. In the beginning of the story, Juliana is gone, but we later learn that she never really leaves his side. Some experiences he goes through are completely different than what teens go through now, but others are very much similar. Homosexuals were treated very badly, protesters were aggressive against the war, Sammy had to work very hard to save every dime for his college education, racism, and he unfortunately loses many of the people that were important in his life. When you think finally all the deaths have stopped, he gets a call while he is at work that his dad was in a horrible accident. His father survives and Sammy goes to college. Teens can relate to Sammy because he is a boy transitioning  into a man that has to be strong regardless of all the tragedies and sacrifices he has to make for his future and for his remaining family members. This is a touching, sad, but inspiring story that should be in every library collection. It is definitely an eye opening story that shows many sides to the Mexican culture. Other books similar to this culture would be “Oscar Hijuelos” and “Parrot in the Oven”.