Pancho is headed to St. Anthony's, an orphanage. At 17 he is being sent to an here after the death of his sister and father. In one year he will be free, but for now he is a ward of the state.D.Q. is a resident at St. Anthony's, dropped off by his mother when he was 10 years old, and he has chosen to live there even after his mother picked up the pieces of her life. D.Q. also has a rare form of cancer, leaving him wheel chair bound and uncertain as to how long he will live. He's also writing the Death Warrior manifesto, in part to impress a girl.
Pancho may not want any friends, or to live much longer, but D.Q. knows their lives are intertwined. With D.Q. off to Albuquerque for a new treatment, Pancho goes with him intent on finding the man he knows murdered his sister.
Pancho and D.Q. are faced with uncertain futures and they need to decide how to live the lives they have. Add in a beautiful assistant at the home for children with cancer, and a semi-crazy mother for D.Q. and you get one summer these two boys will never forget.
Fans of Stork's first YA book, Marcelo in the Real World, will be drawn to The Last Summer of the Death Warriors purposeful writing. If you like realistic fiction, and books that make you think this is a book you should not miss.
I'll see you @ the library!
Katie (Now reading Happyface by Stephen Emond)