“Mr. Rodriquez's descriptions of the bleak lives of his South Bronx teenagers have a knife-like precision. . . . In the quiet sophistication of his title story. . .'The Boy Without a Flag,' a precocious schoolboy. . .refuses to salute the American flag. Desperate for some attention from his father. . .a Puerto Rican nationalist. . .the boy hopes this defiant act may earn the man's respect. . . . This poignant story derives its power from a rare emotional depth.”

“These stories are unsentimental accounts of the lives of angry children who are forced to grow up too quickly, whose small triumphs are almost always overwhelmed by the relentless tragedy of inner-city America. . . . Rodriguez's focus on troubled young women shows an unusual sensitivity to how male dominance ultimately subjugates them. . . . These stories are uncompromisingly bleak, and brilliant.”

“It's clear we're in the hands of a young, ethnic-American writer of brilliant potential. I would not want to miss any story Rodriguez writes. . . . All shattered glass, fresh blood, broken dreams, dead-end streets, empty spirits. . .But there's language, that music of the ethnic-American tongue, which Rodriguez renders in narrative that lifts even the darkness of his themes to something like song.”

“Unforgettable. . . . From a place where schooling promises nothing, where television means escapism into the World Series and Lotto drawings, Rodriguez miraculously appears. He is these kids' bard, and he deserves to be heard.”

“How better to bring the streets of the South Bronx into the classroom. . . . All [students] felt it helped them better understand risks to children living in poverty.”