Friendly Warning

     The newest book for English Literature class is “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick yourAss,” by Meg Medina. The title is referencing a female in the high school. Piddy, the main character of the book, finds out this information from a kid named Vanesa. Piddy has no idea who Yaqui Delgado is or what she did to deserve the threat. Piddy finds out more from Darlene, her friend who also happens to work in the guidance office and is in the know. Are you following all of this yet? Yes, drama from the start. The reader learns as Piddy does, following her thoughts and actions.

            Piddy lives with her mom and they move right before the start of the school year because the apartment is falling apart. The highlight of moving is that Piddy, who is almost 16, will finally have her own room. It goes downhill from there. When Darlene clarifies the message, that becomes all that Piddy can focus on. Piddy is not even aware WHO Yaqui Delgado is until that point.

            I find this story somewhere in-between reading Eleanor and Park and Feed. It has been easier to follow than Feed, yet I am not as engaged in the story as I was in Eleanor and Park. A difference in the bullying between this book and the other two is that Piddy is Latina, and the group picking on her is also Latin. The Latin culture is expanded through Piddy’s interactions outside of school with her mom and Lila and especially at the salon where she works part-time. The discussions revolve around shape and size and looks, which Piddy relates to her friend from the old neighborhood, Mitzi. The fact that the bullying may be over a guy is weird to Piddy. Mitzi attracted guys, not Piddy. As Piddy begins to pay attention, she realizes that maybe guys are noticing.

            To me, the story also feels more like middle school than high school with the thoughts, emotions and actions expressed, even though Eleanor was also the new high school student bullied. I hear all the time about kids being bullied. Sometimes the kids are in elementary school. I am just as curious about what will happen between Piddy and her mom, and if she will find out more about her dad and the relationship they had. I am also curious if anything more will develop with the boy from her old neighborhood. Those storylines are more interesting to me right now than the bullying Piddy is trying to avoid. The bullying has more been in her head and is only clear in pieces, such as getting showered by chocolate milk. Stay tuned!