Taking Sides: And Related Readings (Literature Connections)

Summary:
Lincoln Mendoza is a star basketball player for Franklin Junior High in the barrio of San Francisco, but when his house is broken into, his mother decides they should move to a better neighborhood-the prosperous white suburb of Sycamore ten miles away. Lincoln likes the change at first, but soon he begins to miss his old friends and school. There's more to Lincoln's plight than being homesick, though. He has a fight with Tony, his best friend from the barrio; his divorced mother has a white boyfriend whom Lincoln dislikes; his basketball coach doesn't like him; he hurts his knee; and his new house is broken into. What else can go wrong? Well, he has a fight with Monica, a girl from his new school whom he really likes, and his coach benches him for the big game between his new school and his old one. When the big game finally takes place, it forces Lincoln to figure out who he is and where he belongs.