Customer Reviews

Faraday's Popcorn Factory

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a young adult in Santa Ana,California, I could totally relate to most of the things Mona Ruiz wrote in her book. I loved it because just by reading it she made me feel close to her and made me realize even more that there is a way out of that lifestyle,I'm almost there. I was never in a gang like her but I associate with that way of living. I hope she writes more books because I would buy them. I like that she writes about the way the gang life is, it's all true, but there is also more that is behind the lifestyle. Hopefully you will read and enjoy it.

I am an English teacher at Santa Ana Valley High School, in Santa Ana, CA. Ms Ruiz spoke at Valley several years ago. Her presentation was as memorable as her book, "Two Badges." I bought three copies the day of her presentation, I have since bought ten more. My students love the book. Young men and young women, alike. They relate, and it is such a strong story with a postive, true life ending. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on your view) these books do not make it back to my room after being checked out. I am down to three copies. In a way I am happy, in that I know the books are in contiuous use, they are getting passed around to friends. Cool. It is just that I can not afford to buy a bunch more books for my kids this fall.

This book is one of the best books that I have ever read. I recommend anybody to read this book, especially the girls out there that are struggling through life and are involved in the gangs. This is a very touching story and Mona tells it like it is, the way that most teenagers out there may not see it until after they may read this book. This book didn't just open my eyes more to whats out there it made me believe more in myself and know that I can do anything and never to give up Like Mona I grew up in Santa Ana and I've been through a lot. Now that I've read her book made me realize that I can even write my own book and I know that I can do it. Hopefully it can help kids see how hard life is out there in the gangs and think twice about what they may be doing out there right now. I know that a book can't change a human being but hopefully it can help them see life different. The way it really is.

Before I start, read the other reviews prior to this one. They cover enough elements of the story itself. What I want to review is the MOOD and REWARDS of the book; how it rates with other books that are marketed to the same people (Black women).

I'll be this honest: I had, like a lot of people I know who love to read (not just love the idea THAT they are particpating in the act of reading, but find that they have a true passion for words and seek out original, fresh ideas), recently gotten sick of most of the books by Black authors out here. Every book was a romance, and most of them thinly veiled attempts to pass off autobiography-diary as epistolary fiction. On top of that, if I had to read another so-so written book by someone in first person narrative ("I woke up this morning next to a man I met the night before", "I went to the club", "I..."), I was going to cut up my library card. I am so sickened by the better part of these works that I almost hate walking down the Black aisle in a bookstore...so much incestuous ripping-off and just plain bad stuff.

So when I saw "Faraday's", I was wary. I picked it up and read the jacket and checked out the author's pic. I flipped to the middle of the book to see what perspective the story was being told in ("aghh! First person! And MULTIPLE, at that!"). I sighed, I hemmed and hawed.

Then I read the first 10 pages.

They started off in short, sweet journal-like entries, which were easily dissovable and got me interested. I'd become accustomed to letting the same ol' normal words in the same ol' normal situations wash over me and getting the story through a feeling of the book, but I couldn't get through these passages that way. I had to stop and go "equinoxes" and "sparkling solitude"; literaly say the words aloud a bit to taste them.

I like a book that challenges me, that makes me think and feel at the same time; that makes me want to add words to my everyday speech. "Faraday's" does that to stunning effect. I admit, this is not a book for the average book club group accustomed to "Cheaters" or "How Stella..."; this is high reading for solitary, moody evenings, and you almost have to prepare yourself before sitting down with it.

Thank God a book can still make me want to do that.

Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It's really entertaining & the fact that it's non fiction makes it even better. I'm sure Mona is doing a great job as a cop as she knows how to treat all people respectfully, since she's been on the other side of the law, growing up. This is why she gains respect from the people in the streets as well. More cops need to realize that in order to get respect, they have to give it.
C/S

Mona Ruiz is an inspiration, someone both young men and women can relate to, who sees herself and the world she lives in as honestly as possible. This book, written with reporter Greg Boucher, is actually the best written and most fairminded I have read about the gang lifestyle and someone who overcame great obstacles to turn her life around, ultimately using her former life as a gang banger to her advantage as a fine policewoman. I admire her and am happy for her as she continues to try to make her old barrio a better place. As a middle/high school librarian in a school with a number of students who are fascinated by gangs, I am delighted to have found this book and will recommend it to ALL our students. Be safe, Mona.

This is a really good book to have a teenages read, I read it just because and I liked it so much that I gave it to my little sister to read who then passed it on to her friends.

Faraday's Popcorn Factory is a great book. It talks about a woman named Willow who lives in a town called Good Sky.And how her heart was broken so many times that eventually she gave up on love. But just when that happens a strange man named Clement moves in to town and shows her how to live again. But he has secrets of his own that he tries to hide and responsibilities that he runs away from.To me this book was really good,it put love,myth,mystery,and magic in one book. This book tells a love story in a different way. I'm sure lots of people will find it refreshing, as well as touching.

This book was required when I took one of my college classes. After reading it I knew why. The book offers an inside look into the life of a young woman, hispanic and in a gang. She struggles with many obstacles and in the end pulls herself through. The book is not only inspirational but it is also a demonstration of triumph in spite of obstacles! I give it Five stars and hope that more people can get to reading this book. Maybe instead of requiring it as a college course they should offer it in Junior high's and High Schools. This is the kind of book that should be read.

I usually read a book in about two days, regardless of the story-line. It took me a week and a half to finish this book. I must say, it was absolutely awful. I was being used a gineau pig to read the book first. I gladly accepted my role, because I love to read. I was so upset with myself for even opening the book. It left a lot to be desired. It did not flow very well at all. I still don't even know what the book was about. It had too much going on. You couldn't even follow the story line. I hated it. I hated it.