When Pancho arrives at St. Anthony's Home, he knows his time there will be short: If his plans succeed, he'll soon be arrested for the murder of his sister's killer. But then he's assigned to help D.Q., whose brain cancer has slowed neither his spirit nor his mouth. D.Q. tells Pancho all about his "Death Warrior's Manifesto," which will help him to live out his last days fully--ideally, he says, with the love of the beautiful Marisol. As Pancho tracks down his sister's murderer, he finds himself falling under the influence of D.Q. and Marisol, who is everything D.Q. said she would be;and he is inexorably drawn to a decision: to honor his sister and her death, or embrace the way of the Death Warrior and choose life.

Nuanced in its characters and surprising in its plot developments--both soulful and funny--Last Summer is a buddy novel of the highest kind: the story of a friendship that helps two young men become all they can be.

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised in the High School category by the Black-Eyed Susan Award. It was recognised by the Americas Award. It also was recognised by the Tayshas Reading. It was recognised by the Texas Lone Star. Also it was recognised in the Fiction category by the Spur Award.

This book has been graded for interest at 14-17 years.

There are 344 pages in this book. This book was published 2010 by Scholastic US .

Francisco X. Stork is the author of Marcelo in the Real World , winner of the Schneider Family Book Award for Teens and the Once Upon a World Award; The Last Summer of the Death Warriors , which was named to the YALSA Best Fiction for Teens list and won the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award; Irises ; and The Memory of Light , which received four starred reviews. He lives near Boston with his wife. You can find him on the web at www. franciscostork. com and @StorkFrancisco.