The Ruiz Street Kids / Los muchachos de la calle Ruiz

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Meet the Silva kids, the Guerra boys, and the new Perez family who live on Ruiz Street. On a hot summer day, a new kid named David rides into the neighborhood. Gossip about the mysterious boy stretches longer than a wad of gum. The kids wonder why he rides a different bike everyday. Is he stealing them? He gets rough at the swimming pool, he scares the younger kids, and he spies over the fence. Why is he always so mean? Is it true that he eats a bee’s nest for breakfast and sleeps on a bed of nails? What does he want from the kids who live on Ruiz Street and why in the world would they ever want to be friends with somebody like David?
The young narrator, Joe Silva, introduces intermediate readers to both his friends and their common enemy on Ruiz Street. David doesn’t have good people skills and doesn’t know quite how to improve them. Can the other kids see beyond his faults and discover another side to the boy on the bike? Filled with humor and mystery, the Ruiz Street kids’ adventures are sure to entertain as they try to understand the peculiar habits of the new boy named David.
Like her previous books for intermediate readers, Alicia’s Treasure and Upside Down and Backwards, Bertrand has written another book to get children talking about making new friends, sibling relationships, and the misconceptions of first impressions. Even the most reluctant readers will keep reading to discover what those Ruiz Street Kids plan to do about the newest kid on the block.

Praise for the work of Diane Gonzales Bertrand:
“Alicia’s account of her experiences brims with the bracing flavors of the beach and the immediacy of each moment as it rolls in like a wave and breaks upon her. — Booklist on Alicia’s Treasure

“This wonderfully heartwarming collection captures a sense of youth within all of us. Bertrand has done an outstanding job …. [her] stories celebrate the unique bonds among family, friends, teachers, and the community as a whole.” – MultiCultural Review on Upside Down and Backwards