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megangraff's review against another edition
3.0
Bullying is such a tough topic and it can be hard for adults to help kids who are being bullied without making things worse. I found this to be a fairly believable story with a slightly overly tidy ending. I couldn't help wondering what would become of Yaqui.
reddyrat's review against another edition
4.0
I generally read reviews and synopses of books extensively before I go into them. So rarely am I surprised by what I find. For this book, I went into it blind. All I'd heard was that it was a good book, plus I'm trying to read more diversely. From the title and the cover, I expected this to be a funny, sarcastic romp. It definitely is not that.
This is a horrifying read of bullying and torture for absolutely no reason. Piddy is a good girl. She studies hard, gets good grades, works hard, is close to her mom - basically she is a normal, nice girl. All this changes when she is targeted for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. Bullying isn't a good word for what happens to Piddy. It's emotional abuse. Terrorization. This is a criminal level of harassment. It is really difficult to read.
You might think from the previous two paragraphs that I didn't like the book. Actually, I really liked it. Enjoy isn't the right word, because it's a hard book, but it's a very well crafted novel. Meg Medina does a wonderful job on showing how the abuse Yaqui Delgado inflicts changes Piddy. Piddy's unfortunately justified fear makes her into a different person. What's worst of all is that It felt very real and not at all sugar coated.
I also loved the relationship Piddy had with her mom and her mom's best friend Lila, who is basically like an aunt. Piddy's mom works hard, but is very caring and strong. Together with Lila, she provides a really supportive home for Piddy. Ostensibly, that doesn't help Piddy at all up against Yaqui, but I think it actually does - it gives her a strong base of love.
The book is very well written. I read the entire thing on a four hour plane ride. It flows well - essentially from one horror to the next. I hated seeing what was happening to Piddy, but I had faith in her and kept reading to see how she could gain some control of the situation. My only complaint is the addition of the sorta boyfriend, the local bad boy, Joey. He was tied into the plot well and served to highlight aspects of Piddy's character and family ties, but ultimately he felt tacked on. Like the typical - I have to have a love interest in a YA book.
You should definitely pick up this book. It's very well written and has great character development in Piddy and her family. Just don't expect fluffy bunnies. It's horrific and anyone who has been through any sort of bullying will unfortunately relate.
Recommendation: Buy-ish. Maybe borrow. Could go either way.
This is a horrifying read of bullying and torture for absolutely no reason. Piddy is a good girl. She studies hard, gets good grades, works hard, is close to her mom - basically she is a normal, nice girl. All this changes when she is targeted for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. Bullying isn't a good word for what happens to Piddy. It's emotional abuse. Terrorization. This is a criminal level of harassment. It is really difficult to read.
You might think from the previous two paragraphs that I didn't like the book. Actually, I really liked it. Enjoy isn't the right word, because it's a hard book, but it's a very well crafted novel. Meg Medina does a wonderful job on showing how the abuse Yaqui Delgado inflicts changes Piddy. Piddy's unfortunately justified fear makes her into a different person. What's worst of all is that It felt very real and not at all sugar coated.
I also loved the relationship Piddy had with her mom and her mom's best friend Lila, who is basically like an aunt. Piddy's mom works hard, but is very caring and strong. Together with Lila, she provides a really supportive home for Piddy. Ostensibly, that doesn't help Piddy at all up against Yaqui, but I think it actually does - it gives her a strong base of love.
The book is very well written. I read the entire thing on a four hour plane ride. It flows well - essentially from one horror to the next. I hated seeing what was happening to Piddy, but I had faith in her and kept reading to see how she could gain some control of the situation. My only complaint is the addition of the sorta boyfriend, the local bad boy, Joey. He was tied into the plot well and served to highlight aspects of Piddy's character and family ties, but ultimately he felt tacked on. Like the typical - I have to have a love interest in a YA book.
You should definitely pick up this book. It's very well written and has great character development in Piddy and her family. Just don't expect fluffy bunnies. It's horrific and anyone who has been through any sort of bullying will unfortunately relate.
Recommendation: Buy-ish. Maybe borrow. Could go either way.
avelasco7's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ameserole's review against another edition
3.0
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass has been on my TBR for YEARS people. It was honestly about damn time for to jump into this. Luckily, for me that is, it ended up working for some of my challenges.
The characters throughout this were okay. I liked them for the post part but wasn't completely invested if I'm being honest here. It probably doesn't help that I wasn't in love with the main character either. Then there's the drama and rumors which left me slightly confused at times. Especially in the beginning because I didn't all the information that I wanted.
Other than that, it was an okay book with an okay ending. Definitely wasn't expecting it that way and I'm not sure how I really feel about it either. I guess, in a way, I'm disappointed due to how it all seemed to rush by. Still, I'm happy that I finally dove into this and knocked it off of my TBR.
The characters throughout this were okay. I liked them for the post part but wasn't completely invested if I'm being honest here. It probably doesn't help that I wasn't in love with the main character either. Then there's the drama and rumors which left me slightly confused at times. Especially in the beginning because I didn't all the information that I wanted.
Other than that, it was an okay book with an okay ending. Definitely wasn't expecting it that way and I'm not sure how I really feel about it either. I guess, in a way, I'm disappointed due to how it all seemed to rush by. Still, I'm happy that I finally dove into this and knocked it off of my TBR.
cathiedalziel's review against another edition
3.0
Story about highschool bullying and trying to find courage in oneself. I feel it could have been better, but it was not bad. Perhaps if i were a teenage / early twenties gal I might have liked it more. The storyline between family members (mother, daughter, aunt) were done well. I also liked that bullying was a topic taken seriously, but was upset that domestic violence was not dealt with in the same pro active way.
erincataldi's review against another edition
3.0
A really good coming of age novel for teens. Specifically Latina and female teens. Meg Medina does a great job writing for teens, I felt like a teen reading it, she really inhibited the teen mind. Pissy Sanchez already has it tough when she finds out someone named Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass. Piddy is already pissed that her mom made them move and now she has to attend a new school and she is separated from her best friend. Now to top it off, a fellow Latina at her new school apparently doesn't like the way that Piddy shakes her rear while she walks and wants to beat her up. This teen novel does a great job explore the intricacies of going through puberty, heartbreak, teen friendships, self-esteem, and parental struggles.
jwinchell's review against another edition
4.0
Oooh, I really liked this one!
I've been thinking a lot about my frustration with my teen students--why don't they care about x? Why does it take them so long to do y? All of this is classroom stuff, of course, and those questions make me realize that I am very firmly AN ADULT and that I quite often lose touch with adolescent perspectives. In that sense, this was the perfect book for me to read.
I read YA because it helps me... to remember the turmoil of adolescence; to feel again that sense of being totally stuck and alone even when adults are saying they can/want to help you; to realize that what to adults seem like small problems with simple solutions are might actually be life-changing situations that are rife with decisions that are slowly/quickly helping you take steps toward who you are; to see with fresh eyes how tricky some life situations can be and that most teens are in the process of either letting them define who they are/what they can do or are using them to rise up and do what they determine what they think is important.
This isn't great literature, but it does all of the above. It also means that I still will be one of those adults who constantly remind kids to focus on their education and that help is right here; it just also means that while I'm doing all of that (which is often exhausting and frustrating), I will do my best to remember that bildungsroman is all-consuming and is usually ugly.
I also really love that the POV is a 1st generation Cuban immigrant living in Queens, surrounded by strong women, involved with a boy who is only a small part of the story and is not part of the solution. I also love how there are multiple solutions to Piddy's problem, and that she thinks about the pros/cons of them in order to make her own decision.
I've been thinking a lot about my frustration with my teen students--why don't they care about x? Why does it take them so long to do y? All of this is classroom stuff, of course, and those questions make me realize that I am very firmly AN ADULT and that I quite often lose touch with adolescent perspectives. In that sense, this was the perfect book for me to read.
I read YA because it helps me... to remember the turmoil of adolescence; to feel again that sense of being totally stuck and alone even when adults are saying they can/want to help you; to realize that what to adults seem like small problems with simple solutions are might actually be life-changing situations that are rife with decisions that are slowly/quickly helping you take steps toward who you are; to see with fresh eyes how tricky some life situations can be and that most teens are in the process of either letting them define who they are/what they can do or are using them to rise up and do what they determine what they think is important.
This isn't great literature, but it does all of the above. It also means that I still will be one of those adults who constantly remind kids to focus on their education and that help is right here; it just also means that while I'm doing all of that (which is often exhausting and frustrating), I will do my best to remember that bildungsroman is all-consuming and is usually ugly.
I also really love that the POV is a 1st generation Cuban immigrant living in Queens, surrounded by strong women, involved with a boy who is only a small part of the story and is not part of the solution. I also love how there are multiple solutions to Piddy's problem, and that she thinks about the pros/cons of them in order to make her own decision.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
4.0
A really tough book about bullying, real serious bullying, involving physical beating as well as other kinds of intimidation. Piddy Sanchez is in a new home and new school, and things don't go well. Yaqui claims that Piddy is after her boyfriend, and she and her "gang" work to make her life miserable. Piddy goes it alone, telling no one, truly afraid of what would happen if she "squealed". Eventually she ends up in detention and has to come clean to the school administration and her mother. The solution is realistic. There is a secondary story about her friend who is in an abusive home and eventually gets sent to other family in another state. This book has been challenged and even banned, because of its title as much as anything.
mellabella's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. This book had been on my list for a little while. I should have read it sooner.
Piddy is a character that you will root for. You'll feel a visceral dislike for the aforementioned Yaqui Delgado as she and her group of friends harasses Piddy.
I wouldn't pay to be 15, 16 again.
Some of us had a Yaqui. Some of us had an absent parent and another parent rearing us that might not have been born in the US.
Dealing with all the feeling of heading towards young adulthood, school, boys, your body changing (or not) AND dealing with a bully as a teenage girl? All the while your best friend moves further away and seems to not have time for you anymore?
The writing is so good and real... This was a realistic look at bullying. An authentic voice of a teenage girl just trying to make it through high school. Once an honor student, the bullying changes that.
Curious about her father who left when her mother was pregnant...
I loved Piddy's mom and her best friend Lila. They seemed real enough to jump out of the pages.
It had a satisfying ending. BUT I would have loved an epilogue telling us how Joey was doing.
4.5 stars
Piddy is a character that you will root for. You'll feel a visceral dislike for the aforementioned Yaqui Delgado as she and her group of friends harasses Piddy.
I wouldn't pay to be 15, 16 again.
Some of us had a Yaqui. Some of us had an absent parent and another parent rearing us that might not have been born in the US.
Dealing with all the feeling of heading towards young adulthood, school, boys, your body changing (or not) AND dealing with a bully as a teenage girl? All the while your best friend moves further away and seems to not have time for you anymore?
The writing is so good and real... This was a realistic look at bullying. An authentic voice of a teenage girl just trying to make it through high school. Once an honor student, the bullying changes that.
Curious about her father who left when her mother was pregnant...
I loved Piddy's mom and her best friend Lila. They seemed real enough to jump out of the pages.
It had a satisfying ending. BUT I would have loved an epilogue telling us how Joey was doing.
4.5 stars
steel_city_peach's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Authentic
I enjoyed this coming of age story because it touched on some important issues. Piddy dealt with the overwhelming reaction to her adolescent body developing into something a lot more curvaceous. It brought so much unwanted attention. That is what so many of us faced as we navigated our teens. It brought about jealousy and bullying from Yaqui Delgado. That was very relatable. The author addressed how some Latin kids can be alienated by their peers because they “don’t look Latin enough”. The story also focused on the angst of outgrowing childhood friends and budding courtships. I love that the author didn’t sugarcoat any of these things. She provided a raw and realistic depiction of what teenagers go through.