review: Pig Park

“I confess. I’m a glutton. This book had me at the cover. That image of a delicious marranito? I can imagine the moist cake-like center, the smell of molasses. I love this cover. I want to eat this cover. “~All Brown All Around Blog

Title: Pig Park

Author: Claudia Guadalupe Martinez

Date: Cinco Puntos; 2014

Main Character: Masi Burciaga

Masi is a 15 year old growing up in an area outside Chicago known as Pig Park. This once thriving working class neighborhood is falling apart after losing its main source of income, the lard company that helped give the community its name. Masi is an only child and her friends in the neighborhood are much like an extended family to her. She’s in and out of their homes as much as she is her own.

Colonel Franco, an outsider, comes to the neighborhood with an elaborate plan to attract visitors…