I read Marcus Vega as part of my county's Teacher Summer Reading Project. I found it to be a quick and interesting read, probably about a 5th- or 6th-grade reading level. While I feel like my students may identify with certain smaller themes, I liked that it could act as a window into another experience for many of my white, upper-middle-class kids from mostly rural central Virginia. Marcus's mom and brother live in Philadelphia, and she works HARD and LONG hours. Marcus, an enormous 14-year-old boy, finds himself taking care of his younger brother Charlie, who has Down syndrome AND his mother (financially), as a result of making money off his classmates in some inventive ways (also somewhat taking care of them, and helping the principal enforce rules).

An incident at school with a bully causes Marcus to be suspended and his mother uses that, and her job at the airport, to fly them all to Puerto Rico to their extended family for a "reset." Marcus secretly hopes that this will give him a chance to meet up with his dad, who he hasn't seen for 10 years.

Though this book has few surprises, and you can see the end coming, I felt the journey was an impactful one. I liked hearing Marcus learn more Spanish and appreciate his heritage more as he becomes part of a family he didn't know that he had.