Childhood in the Suburbs of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

What if one childhood afternoon could define the adult you'd become?

Imagine a time when kids played soccer with flip-flops as goalposts, climbed trees without fear, and learned about courage and rejection not through therapy, but on the sidewalk...

Welcome to the 1980s suburbs of Rio de Janeiro-where scraped knees were daily trophies and every corner held a new adventure... or a new emotional scar.

In Tales of a 1980s Childhood in the Suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, you'll step into the messy, beautiful, sometimes painful world of Pedrinho-a boy who never backed down from a street fight but trembled at the thought of disappointing his mother.
Through moments of laughter, fear, jealousy, and discovery, Pedrinho invites you to relive a time when kids made life-or-death decisions based on playground rules... and the consequence for losing a marble game could be a bruised ego-or a real bruise.

Meet unforgettable characters like:
✔️ Rosana, the fearless girl who rewrote the rules of childhood games-and emotions.
✔️ Roberto, the friend who was always ready to throw a punch... or take one.
✔️ Gilberto and Hugo, brothers molded by violence, survival, and unspoken love.
✔️ Rafinha, the loyal protector who fought Pedrinho's battles when he couldn't.
✔️ Marquinhos, the loudest kid with the smallest fists-but the biggest lessons in resilience.
✔️ Júlio and Alex, cousins who taught that family means both rivalry and refuge.

This book isn't about a perfect childhood. It's about the childhood that shaped imperfect but real people.
It's about learning emotional responsibility long before you knew what that even meant. It's about fights that started with name-calling and ended with unexpected tears-or unexpected hugs.
It's about the smell of wet earth after the rain, the fear of falling off the top bunk, and the quiet understanding that some scars-both physical and emotional-would stay with you forever.

If you've ever wondered:

• "When did I stop being that fearless kid?"

• "Why does that one memory from years ago still hit me so hard?"

• "What did it really mean to grow up?"

...this book is for you.

Inspired by true stories, Tales of a 1980s Childhood is a nostalgic, funny, and sometimes raw dive into the emotional roller coaster of growing up in a time without screens-but with plenty of lessons hiding behind every scraped knee.