An award-winning novel in verse about a boy who navigates the start of seventh grade and life growing up on the border the only way that feels rightthrough poetry.

They call himGerobecause of his red hair, pale skin, and freckles. Sometimes people only go off of what they see. Like the Mexican boxer Canelo lvarez, twelve-year-old Gero is puro mexicano. He feels at home on both sides of the river, speaking Spanish or English. Gero is also a reader, gamer, and musician who runs with a squad of misfits called Los Bobbys. Together, they joke around and talk about their expanding world, which now includes girls. (Dont cross Joannashe’s tough as nails.)

Gero faces the start of seventh grade with heart and smarts, his familys traditions, and his trusty accordion. And when life gets tough for this Mexican American border kid, he knows what to do: He writes poetry.

Honoring multiple poetic traditions,They Call Me Gerois a classic in the making and the recipient of a Pura Belpr Honor, a Toms Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, a Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry, and a Walter Dean Myers Honor.