Showing results by narrator "Ramon De Ocampo" in All Categories

Rocky Rivera arrives in the US from the Philippines the year that Jimi Hendrix dies. So begins a blazing coming-of-age story suffused with the tensions of immigration that finds Rocky moving from the counterculture of 1960s San Francisco to the extravagant 1980s Manhattan music scene. The Gangster of Love tells the story of the Rivera family as they make their new life in the States, all the while haunted by the memory of the father and the homeland they left behind.

Jessica Hagedorn's edgy and entertaining new novel centers on the lives of two women who are neighbors in Manhattan's West Village. Mimi Smith is a filmmaker of low-budget slasher movies in search of new material. Her neighbor Eleanor Delacroix is a legendary writer of erotic fiction, now nearing eighty and addicted to cocaine and gin. Their personal and artistic lives begin to collide in unexpected ways.

In a Philippines of desperate beauty and rank corruption, two seemingly unrelated events occur: the discovery of an ancient lost tribe living in a remote mountainous area and the arrival of a celebrity-studded, American film crew, there to make an epic Vietnam War movie. But the lost tribe may be a clever hoax and the Hollywood movie seems doomed as the cast and crew continue to self-destruct in a cloud of drugs and ego. 

In his award-winning memoir Free Lunch, Rex Ogle’s abuela features as a source of love and support. In this companion-in-verse, Rex captures and celebrates the powerful presence a woman he could always count on—to give him warm hugs and ear kisses, to teach him precious words in Spanish, to bring him to the library where he could take out as many books as he wanted, and to offer safety when darkness closed in.

In 2488, Battle Quest, an arrow shooting, sword fighting, magic slinging live action RPG, is the most popular sport in the universe. Tal works in a trash dump by day and fights in a street samurai pit by night. He dreams of becoming a Battle Quest pro to pull his sisters and grandmother from the slums. Problem is he’s too short, too broke, and his highlight vid-reel has more fails than an ogre’s got warts.

What's a kid to do when given a day-of-the-week underwear set—wear Monday's undies on Monday, Tuesday's undies on Tuesday like a rule-following robot? No sirree bob! He'll cut and craft, snip and sew until every single one of his friends—from an octopus to a piggy bank to, yes, a line of ants—has their own pair of underwear, whether they want them or not.

Filipino-American bounty hunter Domingo has made a career of catching criminal undocumented immigrants. He’s the best in the business—and it isn’t lost on him that he’s so good because of his similarities to his targets. Despite Domingo’s claims that he is unsympathetic to their plight, yet spends his spare moments on stakeouts and in between jobs writing a book of advice for aspiring immigrants. Brash, funny, and candid, he compiles the names of all the people he’s apprehended, documenting the hazards of his profession, and imparting advice to foreigners who dare to dream of life in America.

A year after losing their best friend, JD and Danny are still brokenhearted. JD’s impetuous decision to join the Air Force only makes him yearn for “before” more than ever. Danny, who’d rather paint murals than open a book and certainly never thought of himself as college material, makes the equally impulsive choice to do what Juan will never be able to and enrolls in a community college.

Buddy has a good feeling about second grade. He knows where to go, his best friend is in his class, and he’s ready for a great year. And then Bea shows up—new, tardy, and showing off brand new stitches. Buddy was not expecting Bea. Bea's fast talking and upside-down thinking leave Buddy feeling buzzy—and with his hair full of mayonnaise. How will he and Bea ever figure out how to get along in the same classroom community?

It's the second week of school, and Buddy is wondering if the other second grade class might be more fun. They've even chosen a cool class name. How will his class ever compete? Especially when Ms. Maple says they shouldn't be competing at all?

Ben Cutler loves everything about soccer! He's got a great team, and they have the best pre-game chants and half-time jokes. He and his best friend, Jay-Jay, even invent dances for when they score a goal! And Ben is good at soccer. Like REALLY good. Too good for a casual rec team. Soon, he's recruited for a travel team.