Falling Short

Isaac is Mexican American, Marco is Jewish and Mexican. Isaac's father struggles with depression and alcoholism, and Marco has anxiety attacks. All of the central characters are boys, but there's a girl on their basketball team who they like and respect.

The P.E. teacher at school warns against various bullying behaviors. Marco is bullied about his height, he's called names, picked up and carried around like a baby, and has his pants pulled down at school. The same bully throws an elbow at Issac while they're running in P.E. class. Isaac tries to stop a boy from posting an embarrassing video and accidentally pushes him backward over a desk, causing him to break his ankle. Isaac's father tells a story about growing up "in the hood" when a bunch of "homies" hit his friend over and over. Isaac talks about his parents' arguing and yelling as being normal. He's scared when his dad picks him up from school while drunk and drives him home. Spanking is mentioned. And adult is in a drunk driving accident and is seen in the hospital with wires and tubes sticking out of him.

"Hella."There's some potty humor and the boys reference their "privates" and "tenders." Marco says there's "cringy language" in the locker room and "words I never heard before middle school." Mild verbal bullying. Parents on Marco's soccer team call him names when he doesn't play well.

Isaac's dad's alcoholism is a recurring plot point. Isaac states his parents fought, and his father eventually moved out, because of his heavy drinking. At one point, his father tells him he can only resist on the days he knows he'll be picking him up from school. His dad does pick him up from school while he's drunk one day when Isaac is sick. Isaac is scared and worries about other adults intervening and stopping him from seeing his dad. He also worries about his dad driving while drunk. An adult gets into a drunk driving accident, admits he has a problem, apologizes and says he's going to do everything he can to get help.

Parents need to know that Falling Short, by Ernesto Cisneros (Efrén Divided), is an uplifting story of two Latino middle school boys doing everything they can to support each other and make their parents proud. There are many positive themes including perseverance, empathy, inclusion and helping others throughout the book. Isaac and Marco work hard, using a "mamba mentality," and support each other to reach their goals. They openly communicate about their feelings and fears, cry in front of each other and offer verbal and physical support -- hugging and holding hands for comfort. Both classmates and family members are shown apologizing and forgiving one another, and the book ends on a very positive note. Aside from some bathroom humor, there's very little strong language. Marco is bullied about his height, picked up and carried around like a baby, and has his pants are pulled down at school. The same bully throws an elbow at Issac while they're running in PE class. Isaac's father tells a story about growing up "in the hood," when a bunch of "homies" hit his friend over and over. Isaac talks about his parents' arguing and yelling as being normal. He's scared and worried when his dad picks him up from school while drunk and drives him home. Spanking is mentioned. An adult gets in a drunk driving accident and is seen in the hospital with a lot of wires and tubes sticking out of him.