From debut author and longtime zine-maker Celia C. Perez,The First Rule of Punkis a wry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place, and learning to rock out like no one's watching.There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a new schoolyou can't fix it with duct tape like you would your Chuck Taylors.

On Day One, twelve-year-old Mal (Mara Luisa, if you want to annoy her) inadvertently upsets Posada Middle School's queen bee, violates the school's dress code with her punk rock look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the process.

Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles away, says things will get better as long as she remembers the first rule of punk: be yourself. The real Mal loves rock music, skateboarding, zines, and Soyrizo (hold the cilantro, please). And when she assembles a group of like-minded misfits at school and starts a band, Mal finally begins to feel at home.

She'll do anything to preserve this, which includes standing up to an anti-punk school administration to fight for her right to express herself!

Black and white illustrations and collage art throughout make The First Rule of Punk a perfect pick for fans of books likeRoller Girland online magazines likeRookie.