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A review by heykellyjensen
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
2.0
2.5.
When Piddy moves to a new school, she learns a girl named Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass. Why? It's never clear. There's rumors maybe Piddy's walking with too much sass at school or that she wants to get with Yaqui's boyfriend. But the rumors don't matter much when Yaqui acts on her threat, someone records the fight, and everyone's seen Piddy get her ass kicked (half naked, which was even more humiliating).
This is more than a bullying story, though. It's also about family, as Piddy discovers the truth of who her father was. She's also grieving the loss of her best friend -- when she moved, her friend and her drifted apart, even though they didn't live too far from one another. It was hard anyway.
The book is fine, and it offers a truthful look at bullying that's unprovoked. It's more about the territory than anything else. But I didn't find myself invested in Piddy's story, nor did I find myself feeling much of anything while reading it. The beating is pretty rough, but beyond that, my emotions never moved up or down. This book would be fine for younger teen readers (even with the provocative title -- which is good on Candlewick for taking a risk with). The writing itself is average at best.
Pair this one with Rita Garcia-Williams's Jumped, especially as both feature people of color and bullying.
When Piddy moves to a new school, she learns a girl named Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass. Why? It's never clear. There's rumors maybe Piddy's walking with too much sass at school or that she wants to get with Yaqui's boyfriend. But the rumors don't matter much when Yaqui acts on her threat, someone records the fight, and everyone's seen Piddy get her ass kicked (half naked, which was even more humiliating).
This is more than a bullying story, though. It's also about family, as Piddy discovers the truth of who her father was. She's also grieving the loss of her best friend -- when she moved, her friend and her drifted apart, even though they didn't live too far from one another. It was hard anyway.
The book is fine, and it offers a truthful look at bullying that's unprovoked. It's more about the territory than anything else. But I didn't find myself invested in Piddy's story, nor did I find myself feeling much of anything while reading it. The beating is pretty rough, but beyond that, my emotions never moved up or down. This book would be fine for younger teen readers (even with the provocative title -- which is good on Candlewick for taking a risk with). The writing itself is average at best.
Pair this one with Rita Garcia-Williams's Jumped, especially as both feature people of color and bullying.