A review by dairyqueen84
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

5.0

With the first sentence of the book Piddy Sanchez is informed by a stranger named Vanessa that Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass. Piddy does not even know Yaqui Delgado because she and her single mom just moved to a new neighborhood in Queens, NY and therefore a new school. Within the next two pages, she learns that she is stuck up and shakes her ass. This information comes from her new, nerdy friend Darlene who is in all her honors classes, and who also happens to be a student aide in the guidance office. “Interesting. I’ve only had an ass for about six months, and now it seems it has a mind of its own.” (3) The title and this remark might lead one to think that this will be a lighthearted exploration of bullying but the girls will end up being best friends in the end. That is not what unfolds because this is a powerful, realistic look at bullying and how it can quickly and dramatically change a great student's life. As the threats and violence escalate, Piddy does not know where to turn even though her mother is loving and Lila, her mother’s best friend, is a supportive presence in both their lives and she slowly disintegrates beneath the pressure. Medina addresses myriad issues such as domestic violence, friendship, romantic awakening, an absent father, and coming of age which could have become cumbersome but she deftly weaves it all together in a plausible and affecting way.