Charlton-Trujillo has created a world of outsiders that reads like a Beat-generation West Side Story ; it sizzles and snaps with an inventive poetry all its own. This story is fierce, fine, and full of moxie. -G. Neri, author of the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Yummy e.E. Charlton-Trujillo's When We Was Fierce is a powerhouse of a book, rhythmic, immediate, and eye-opening. Charlton-Trujillo creates a distinct dialect and melody to tell a story of violence, belonging, pain, and redemption. I hung on every word.

This is some of the bravest and best writing I've laid eyes on in years. -A. S. King, author of the Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book Please Ignore Vera Dietz The Outsiders for a new generation. -Elizabeth Bluemle, The Flying Pig Bookstore If we can agree that the finest story-making erupts from impassioned empathy and a willingness to bend the rules of language, then we must agree that e.E. Charlton-Trujillo ranks among our very finest story makers.

This is a lyric manifest that commands us to hear so that we might have a chance at being healed. -Beth Kephart, National Book Award Finalist for A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage.