SPIDER TOWN by Abraham Rodriguez Jr....

SPIDER TOWN by Abraham Rodriguez Jr. (Penguin: $9.95; 323 pp.). This powerful first novel depicts the efforts of a Puerto Rican teen-ager to escape the slums of New York. At 16, Miguel has already dropped out of school and received an education in evil on the streets of the Bronx. As a runner for an aspiring drug lord, he makes more money than he could hope to earn in a legitimate job, but he’s too intelligent and sensitive to stomach the murderous subculture. Repulsed by the wanton cruelty and superficial loyalty of the drug scene, Miguel acquires two angels who assist in his reclamation: street-smart, savvy Amelia and lovely, intelligent Cristalena. Rodriguez etches his portrait of a young man in conflict with deadly accuracy, down to the slang and fractured syntax: “This ain’t freedom. I’m just as chained down, ain’t I. . . Maybe all these people can fool themselves into thinkin’ they doin’ good. I can’t. Lookit these streets, man. We live like animals. There’s gotta be somethin’ better. An’ I think I’m gonna go lookin’ for it.”