Cold Grab

📖 The Scoop

 Sixteen-year-old Angelo has moved to Toronto from the Philippines to join his mother, who has been living and working in Canada for most of Angelo's life. Adjusting to a new country isn't easy for Angelo, with a new language, curfews, new rules, and pressure from a mom who seems like a stranger. Angelo's mother takes him to the Filipino Community Centre where he meets Marcus who has shared the same experience.

At school, Marcus introduces Angelo to Felix and Darius. The boys quickly give Angelo a reality check, pointing out how rich everyone else is, and how no one respects poor Filipino immigrants. They lure Angelo into running petty thefts as a way of proving his friendship. But when Angelo is accused of stealing something valuable from the house his mother cleans and she loses her job, he realizes that everyone sees him as just a punk. He wants to set things right, but how can he go against his friends without getting the law involved?

Genre: Young Adult Fiction / People & Places / Asia (fancy, right?)