It's the South Bronx of the 1960s, a neighborhood teetering on change. The young Puerto Rican boy David Perez is living in the Millbrook housing projects, about to be transferred to St. Luke's Catholic School, where he's already attended catechism and asked if God "popped out of nowhere." So begins Perez's delightful and engaging "memoirito," a novella-like tale that follows Perez believing that becoming cool and tough are life's aspirations, and being the smartest guy in school isn't something to brag about. The first in a series, Wow adds a fresh chapter to the colorful chronicles of...