By: Ray Villarreal
Publisher: Piñata Books, Arte Público Press, Houston Texas
The book, On the Other Side of the Bridge, is about a young boy named Lon Chaney Rodriguez, mostly called Lonnie throughout the story. When we first meet Lonnie, he is introduced as a typical teenage boy–a dirty room, a great affinity for horror movies, occasionally getting into trouble with friends, and is captivated by the opposite sex. Lonnie is also a very smart individual; however, he is not willing to put forth the extra effort to complete his schoolwork. That being said, not only is he doing poorly in school, but his father is also unemployed, depressed, and is an alcoholic. Because of this, Lonnie’s mother is constantly nagging– for Lonnie to put forth more effort and for her husband to get a job to help fulfill his parental and household duties.
In one particular scene, Lonnie and his father are asked to get a few grocery items for dinner. On the way back home, Lonnie sees a homeless man who is a regular and is known as “Moses” thanks to his long gray hair and beard. In this scene, Lonnie sees his father heckle him and laugh. Lonnie then becomes upset, but his father insists he was probably a druggy or con artist–an obvious worthless being in his father’s eyes, particularly because Lonnie’s father feels such a situation could never happen to them. The irony? Soon after this incident, Lonnie’s dad comes to see the world the through the eyes of “Moses” as everything spirals out of control. His false sense of security is quickly eroded in one tragic accident–Lonnie’s mother is brutally shot at work! The outcome? Lonnie and his father are now both left homeless.
It’s true a great deal of the book deals with Lonnie and his father’s struggle to survive, but there is another layer here that complicates the story. Lonnie must now become more responsible, and deal with the constant guilt of not making things right with his mother before she died. How so?
Before Lonnie’s mother passed away, Lonnie found himself in trouble as he and two other individuals had broken into a paper company’s warehouse. Though Lonnie and his friend never did vandalize the property, the third school acquaintance who accompanied them did. The result was a chase by an on guard security guard. But this is not the only guilt that haunts him. His lack of effort towards school and the vandalization event eventually catch up to him. His mother, upon finding out about his destructive behavior scolds him by telling him, “I don’t even know who you are anymore. I can’t trust you. Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie.” After which Lonnie’s mother had to leave for work. Unfortunately, he never gets to rebuttal his behavior or make things right. He must now navigate through this guilt, and the pain of letting his mother down.
Though there are other characters that help Lonnie and his father navigate, the story is a great read for young adults. It’s perfect as sometimes life can bring about sudden changes. Readers who do have the pleasure of reading such a book will come to understand Lonnie’s fight to become responsible, and hopefully learn to see the world through the eyes of those less fortunate. The book is a perfect opportunity to talk about guilt, death, poverty, and friendships for young readers.
This book is a fast paced read that I found highly enjoyable. The Author, Ray Villarreal, did a great job at character development–especially Lonnie. I strongly believe most young teens could relate to him.
Source: Book was provided by author for review. It was reviewed by Corina Martinez Chaudhry.
