The Jumping Tree A Novel Author:Rene Saldana, Jr. The author celebrates barrio and family life with irresistible humor and honesty in lively stories that follow Rey Castaneda from sith through eighth grade in Nuevo Penitas, Texas. One half of Rey's family lives nearby in Mexico, the other half in texas, and he fits in on both sides of the border. In Texas he enjoys fooling around with his pals ... more »in the barrio; at school, he's on of the A-list kids. As Rey begins to cross the border between childhood and manhood, he senses the meaning of love, work, poverty, and grief, and what it is to be a proud Chicano; he has moments tha push him to show feeling un hombre should never express. It's a new territory wher eRey longs to follow the example his hard-working, loving father has set for him.« less