Book Review: The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

New Mexico is the setting for this latest novel by the author of Marcelo in the Real World. Seventeen-year-old Pancho Sanchez has lost both of his parents, and now his developmentally disabled sister Rosa has died under mysterious circumstances. Having been kicked out of his foster home due to violent behavior, Pancho finds himself in St. Anthony’s Orphanage, where he meets Daniel Quentin (better known as D.Q.).

D.Q. has brain cancer, and even though his mother is still alive, he is looking to become an emancipated minor. He wants to deal with his illness in his own way rather than submit to his mother’s wish for him to participate in experimental chemotherapy. He expresses his personal philosophy in a work he calls the “Death Warrior Manifesto.” In D.Q.’s words, “a Death Warrior is grateful for every second of time given and is aware of how precious each second is. Every second not spent loving is wasted. The Death Warrior’s enemy is time that is wasted by not loving.”

(At this point, those with literary tendencies might see some similarities between this D.Q. and a famous Spanish don with a sidekick whose name just happens to rhyme with “Pancho.”)

Pancho, meanwhile, is struggling with his own rage over Rosa’s death and his desire to get revenge on the man he holds responsible. At the same time he seems to adjust remarkably well to life in the orphanage and makes himself useful giving “rickshaw” rides to young cancer patients at a nearby health care facility. He meets and falls for Marisol, a health aide, who also happens to be the girl of D.Q.’s dreams.

The author treats us to memorable supporting characters such as Josie (a young cancer patient) and Johnny Corazon (a holistic healer). There is genuine suspense as Pancho finally confronts the man who was there when his sister died. But most of all, the book is about the deep honesty in the relationship between Pancho and D.Q. as each of them discovers for himself what it really means to be a Death Warrior.

All in all, this is another fine effort from Francisco X. Stork.

Kifflie (Now starting Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken)