"Florindo, don't let go " I yelled as he ran along side me. "Are you ready?" "No, no, don't let go, I'm not readdyyyy " In spite of my pleas, he let go. My heart thumped faster than my feet could pedal, while sweat gushed from my head as children, bikers and cars came at me from every direction. My grip on the handlebars was hard enough to squeeze chrome juice.... Riding his first two-wheeler, flying a kite armed with razorblades, or sliding over concrete into home plate are all in a day's play for a twelve-year-old in the 1953 tenement streets of New York's East Harlem. This story takes you to a fleeting time we once knew where everything was new and fun and an adventure. Climb aboard this exciting ride with our hero, his best buddies Filthy and Florindo, his nemesis Garbanzo and his personal tormenter named Norma to Coney Island, battles on rooftops, comical camping escapades and a disastrous "boys in tights" dance recital. And yes, his first love.

When Wally's misses the last train home and losses his estrange children's gifts, he mysteriously encounters Ah-Hel, his Puerto Rican guardian angel and Chastity, a beautiful angel-of-a-hooker. During his desperate all-through-the-night New York City search for the toys and a way to get home, Wally meets a bevy of bizarre characters in some unusual places. With time running out and no way of escaping the certain three-prong medieval butt-chewing from his ex's, Wally ends up riding everything but Santa's sled to be with his kids on Christmas.

Senioritis, acne and rampant hormones have turned the odds against a 17 year-old ever graduating, getting a driver's license, or taking his dream girl to the prom. It does not help that he is "mentored" by an acerbic, off-the-wall driving instructor, is harassed daily by an in-your-face bully, and has accidentally invited not one, but three girls to the prom. His biggest challenge, however, is becoming the courageous person he pretends to be

When Wally's misses the last train home and losses his estrange children's gifts, he mysteriously encounters Ah-Hel, his Puerto Rican guardian angel and Chastity, a beautiful angel-of-a-hooker. During his desperate all-through-the-night New York City search for the toys and a way to get home, Wally meets a bevy of bizarre characters in some unusual places. With time running out and no way of escaping the certain three-prong medieval butt-chewing from his ex's, Wally ends up riding everything but Santa's sled to be with his kids on Christmas.

"Florindo, don't let go " I yelled as he ran along side me. "Are you ready?" "No, no, don't let go, I'm not readdyyyy " In spite of my pleas, he let go. My heart thumped faster than my feet could pedal, while sweat gushed from my head as children, bikers and cars came at me from every direction. My grip on the handlebars was hard enough to squeeze chrome juice.... Riding his first two-wheeler, flying a kite armed with razorblades, or sliding over concrete into home plate are all in a day's play for a twelve-year-old in the 1953 tenement streets of New York's East Harlem. This story takes you to a fleeting time we once knew where everything was new and fun and an adventure. Climb aboard this exciting ride with our hero, his best buddies Filthy and Florindo, his nemesis Garbanzo and his personal tormenter named Norma to Coney Island, battles on rooftops, comical camping escapades and a disastrous "boys in tights" dance recital. And yes, his first love.