YA / Realistic Fiction / Bullying
Pura Belpré Award for Narrative (2014)
I gave this book 5 out of 5 Stars
Piddy Sanchez is just
a few weeks transferred-in to a new school when she is told that Yaqui Delgado
wants to kick her ass. Though Piddy doesn't know Yaqui, or what she possibly
could have done to set-off her wrath, she soon finds that she isn't "Latin
enough" to meet Yaqui's group's standards, and besides, Yaqui Delgado
doesn't need to have a reason to kick anyone's ass.
At school, Piddy is
becoming increasingly distracted by the harassment and her grades plummet,
while at home she's trying to reconcile the information she uncovers about the
father she never met with the secrets that her mother has kept. Throw into the
mix problems with her two best childhood friends, and the recipe is one that
seems destined to fail. Piddy is on a downward spiral, but will
she find the strength to survive or will she crash and burn?
Much of this book’s appeal is in the high interest subject matter –
really subject matters – of the story. We have: Piddy’s blossoming body,
tension between a single mom and her only daughter, mystery surrounding Piddy’s
absent father, attraction to the boy next door, domestic abuse, and bullying. Adding further to the book’s
appeal, it has a Latina protagonist and authentic snippets of her Cuban culture
and Spanish language to establish the setting within Piddy’s urban New York community.
Author Meg Medina can write a single sentence and it encapsulates an entire scene. For
example, in writing about the beauty salon, she says, “You would not believe
the private stuff a woman will say when she’s in a plastic smock with a head
full of foil. It’s like the chemicals are a truth serum.” Great stuff!
Medina manages to maintain
a fairly straightforward bullying plot while adding in a plethora of
sub-plots which only serve to enhance the story. An interesting element
is that the
anticipated climax of the story, when Yaqui finally attacks Piddy, isn’t
really
the turning-point. While the resolution wasn’t necessarily satisfying,
it is
realistic and readers will likely understand it. The language flows naturally
and is believable for each of the characters speaking. When Piddy speaks, the
language sounds like a teenage girl (“It’s like. . .”); when her mother speaks, she sounds like an opinionated, overbearing mom (“No one decent hangs out in a
school yard, oiste?”) – and likewise
for Lila, the principal of the school, and nosy friend Darlene – through
creative language use, it is easy for readers to “hear” via the author’s language
and the sprinkling of Spanish words throughout the story. Medina uses
figurative language – particularly similes and metaphors – that really helps
readers visualize the situations. The dialogue between
characters is also natural, and the author did an excellent job of balancing
how much dialogue was provided verbatim and how much was summarized. Piddy’s
internal dialogue was equally well-done and added a great deal of insight into
her thinking and behavior.
Readers will learn
the high price paid when victims don't seek help and bullying spirals out of
control, but the story is much wider than
the bully line and expands into the socioeconomic realm, life with one
parent, and abusive relationships. This is a story that lingers long after the reading is done.
There's some strong language in English and Spanish, some kissing and thoughts about having sex, and significant violence in the attack on Piddy plus neighbors suffering domestic violence. I'd recommend this book for ages fourteen and up.
Thank you to Candlewick Press for giving me a print copy of this book at the Texas Library Association Conference.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Meg Medina is an award-winning Cuban American author who writes picture books, middle grade, and YA fiction.
Meg’s work examines how cultures intersect through the eyes of young
people, and she brings to audiences stories that speak to both what is
unique in Latino culture and to the qualities that are universal. Her
favorite protagonists are strong girls.
When she is not writing, Meg works on community projects that support
girls, Latino youth and/or literacy. She lives with her family in
Richmond, Virginia.
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