Asphalt Angels [Hardcover]

Ineke Holtwijk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

A raw, poignant story of a band of Brazilian street kids who survive -- if they can -- by their wits alone. Asphalt Angels centers around a boy named Alex, a street child of 13 in Brazil who has been kicked onto the city streets by his stepfather after his mother dies. He is alone and scared. This is the story of how he adapts to life in the streets with a group of other children. Hazards are everywhere: drug-dealing, theft, glue-sniffing, harassment, brutality, even murder. It is not easy steering clear of them, yet Alex manages to survive, eventually making a home with 14 other boys in a house, working in an office, and attending evening school. This story grew from the real-life drama the author observed while on assignment. In an afterword, she reports that some 10,000 children sleep in Rio's streets, and many more roam them by day, victims of inadequate nutrition, education, and shelter, and prey to drugs and violence. Alex does exist, but under another name.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This novel by a Dutch journalist graphically depicts life on the streets for a 13-year-old boy in Rio de Janeiro after his mother dies. Glue sniffing, stealing, prostitution and panhandling are all part of the daily routine for Alex's gang, called the Asphalt Angels, which is headed by a 19-year-old thief and his 16-year-old "wife," and whose youngest member is a 10-year-old addict. The author based the novel on a boy she met in a shelter for street children in Rio. Alex is a sympathetic protagonist, living the roughest life a child could have. His most fervent wish is for a mother and a bed. The greatest strengths of the book are its cast of living, breathing characters and its unparalleled depiction of life on the streets, where stealing seems a perfectly logical response to hunger. The drama of the last chapters brings the plot to a sobering conclusion, yet strikes a dimly hopeful chord. This novel is not for the faint of heart; it is best suited for mature readers. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-10-A realistic depiction of the life of street children in Brazil seen through the eyes of Alex, a 13-year-old runaway. After his mother's death, Alex's abusive stepfather kicks him out of the house and the boy heads for Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, jobs that provide enough money for food and shelter are nonexistent. He eventually falls in with a surrogate family of street urchins who call themselves the Asphalt Angels, headed by two older teens, Roy and his girlfriend, Duda. They hang out together for protection, supporting themselves through petty thievery and sniffing glue for a cheap high. Alex comes across as a sympathetic, believable character, reluctant to become involved in the violence, drug trafficking, and other illegal activities through which his companions survive. After Roy is killed, Alex slides deeper and deeper into depression, finally contemplating suicide. Somewhat improbably, Duda appears in the nick of time to rescue him. Despite what seems like a random piling of incident upon incident, Alex's plight generates sympathy, and his quandary over how to escape his hellish existence generates increasing tension. An afterword provides factual data on homeless children in Rio de Janeiro, indicating the magnitude of the problem and the somewhat unfocused attempts of Brazilian society to cope with this human tragedy.
Douglas Wooley, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hand Print; 1st edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886910243
• ISBN-13: 978-1886910249
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,448,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Award winning book set on streets of Rio de Janeiro, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Asphalt Angels (Hardcover)

This book gives an insight into a world few of us know. Without being sentimental, Holtwijk describes the hopes and fears of kids living on the streets of Rio. Their lives are hard to imagine, but Holtwijk, who lives there and sees it everyday, comes close. Asphalt Angels recently won the Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Award. Ms. Batchelder is a former executive director of the Association for Library Service to Children, and believer in the importance of good books for children in translation from all parts of the world. Asphalt Angels contributes in a significant way to Batchelder's work of eliminating "barriers to understanding between people of different cultures, races, nations, and languages." Your children will find this an eye-opener. Or, if you are heading there, read it yourself, besides the tourist guide of Rio!

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ghetto Child, December 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Asphalt Angels (Hardcover)

A Review by Caleb
Asphalt Angels is about a 13 year-old boy named Alex. After his loving mother dies, he is thrown out onto the streets by his cruel stepfather. He makes his humble home there and meets a street gang called the Asphalt Angels. He is always trying to keep his hopes and dreams up but he is constantly pressured to sniff glue, steal and kill.

Asphalt Angels is a interesting story. Based on a true story, it follows the life of Alex in a bad way. I feel that the way they portrayed the streets wasn't strong enough or it did not convince me enough. On almost every other page there was something about how either Alex or one of his friends was making money by hold-ups or stealing. The book had a lot of controversial topics such as sniffing glue and prostitution.