The Graduates/Los Graduados

Gr 9 Up—This stirring documentary aims to examine the roots of the Latino dropout crisis through the eyes of six young adults. Divided by gender into two hour-long segments, each program begins with the same stark truth: nearly one in three Latino students did not graduate on time. Putting faces to the issues that consistently make headlines, the work features teens who are overcoming issues with bullying, teen pregnancy, gang violence, homelessness, sexuality, or immigration status. The subjects live in small towns and big cities across the United States, and their families hail from a range of countries of origin (Dominican Republic, Mexico, and El Salvador among them), highlighting the diversity of Latino culture. Kids will be able to connect with the well-spoken and earnest but down-to-earth individuals, who for the most part are supported and encouraged by their family and community organizations. Interspersed throughout, successful Latino writers, professors, and activists emphasize the importance of educational achievement despite incredible odds. Some talking heads will be more recognizable to young audiences (actor Wilmer Valderrama), and executive producer Benardo Ruiz was strategic in selecting NYU professor Pedro Noguera and President Obama's inauguration poet Richard Blanco as Latinos who have "made it." However, it is Patricia Gandara, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, who asks rhetorically, "Why should anybody who isn't Latino care about the education of Latino students?" that makes a lasting impression. Gandara's reply, "The nation as a whole will not be able to compete in a global marketplace unless we can educate these young people," will resonate with teens and adults alike. An essential purchase in communities with large Latino populations and for college readiness collections.—Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal