Title: Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass Author: Meg Medina
Published: March 26, 2013
Genre(s): Realistic/Contemporary
Page Count: 272
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:In Meg Medina's compelling new novel, a Latina teen is targeted by a bully at her new school—and must discover resources she never knew she had.
One morning before school, some girl tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Piddy doesn't even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she's done to piss her off. Word is that Yaqui thinks Piddy is stuck-up, shakes her stuff when she walks, and isn't Latin enough with her white skin, good grades, and no accent. And Yaqui isn't kidding around, so Piddy better watch her back.
At first Piddy is more concerned with trying to find out more about the father she's never met and how to balance honors courses with her weekend job at the neighborhood hair salon. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy's life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or running away? In an all-too-realistic novel, Meg Medina portrays a sympathetic heroine who is forced to decide who she really is.
This is a book about high school bullying, and that’s honestly about it. It’s not that I don’t think it’s an important topic, and Meg Medina did a great job—but Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass is a book that only deals with one thing, and does it in a way that makes you wonder if you’re not watching one of those “educational” TV movies you were forced to watch in homeroom.
Inspired as it is by the author’s own experiences, I don’t doubt that this novel offers a faithful look at what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a bully’s hatred. I definitely don’t fault Medina’s representation of the issues at hand. Neither do I really find fault with protagonist Piddy’s characterization—it was mostly good. She wasn’t the sort of character who almost jumps off the page with the force of her realism and personality, but I did like Piddy and I felt for her.
The problem with Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass is that its scope is too narrow. The author focuses entirely on the bullying aspect and develops the plot in no other direction. The result of is the feeling that the story is primarily educational and pointedly attempting to teach readers something. There’s a lack of subtlety and sophistication to Medina’s storytelling that gives the book a juvenile tone, no matter how important and worthwhile its themes might be.
Does this book have something to say, something readers should hear and acknowledge? Of course. But Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass is an issue book that emphasizes the issues over all else, and it makes for a story that’s not as strong, engaging or rewarding as it could have been.
