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Book Cover for: The Knife and the Butterfly, Ashley Hope Pérez

The Knife and the Butterfly

Ashley Hope Pérez

After a marijuana-addled brawl with a rival gang, 16-year-old Azael wakes up to find himself surrounded by a familiar set of concrete walls and a locked door. Juvie again, he thinks. But he can't really remember what happened or how he got picked up. He knows his MS13 boys faced off with some punks from Crazy Crew. There were bats, bricks, chains. A knife. But he can't remember anything between that moment and when he woke behind bars.

Azael knows prison, and something isn't right about this lockup. No phone call. No lawyer. No news about his brother or his homies. The only thing they make him do is watch some white girl in some cell. Watch her and try to remember.

Lexi Allen would love to forget the brawl, would love for it to disappear back into the Xanax fog it came from. And her mother and her lawyer hope she chooses not to remember too much about the brawl--at least when it's time to testify.

Lexi knows there's more at stake in her trial than her life alone, though. She's connected to him, and he needs the truth. The knife cut, but somehow it also connected.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab (R)
  • Publish Date: Aug 1st, 2014
  • Pages: 216
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.50in - 5.30in - 0.70in - 0.55lb
  • EAN: 9781467716246
  • Recommended age: 14-18
  • Categories: Social Themes - Adolescence & Coming of Age

About the Author

Pérez, Ashley Hope: -

Ashley Hope Pérez is the author of award-winning books for young adults, including What Can't Wait, The Knife and the Butterfly, and Out of Darkness. Out of Darkness was described by The New York Times as a "layered tale of color lines, love and struggle" and was named one of Booklist's "50 Best YA Books of All Time." It also won the 2016 Tomás Rivera Book Award, the 2016 Américas Award, and a 2016 Printz honor for excellence in young adult literature from the American Library Association. When she's not writing or hanging out with her two beautiful sons, Liam Miguel and Ethan Andrés, Ashley teaches world literature at The Ohio State University. Visit her online at www.ashleyperez.com or find her on Twitter and Instagram: @ashleyhopeperez.

Praise for this book

"Perez gives the reader sympathetic yet critical insight into the world of gangs in Houston, Texas, and is careful to show the narratives of loss that drive so many young people to join them." --The ALAN Review


-- (10/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"This is a well-written, compelling story of the lost lives of young gang members." --Library Media Connection

-- (5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Based on a true incident, this work of fiction is gritty, sad, and not for the faint-hearted." --VOYA

-- (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"An uncompromising look at two characters most readers would otherwise look away from." --Booklist

-- (2/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Azael is a dynamic and sympathetic main character with an authentic voice.... This hard-hitting novel [will be an] an assured success in libraries serving high school students." --School Library Journal

-- (2/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"An unflinching portrait with an ending that begs for another reading." --Kirkus Reviews

-- (1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)