Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

Bibliographic Information
Publisher: Candlewick
Publication year: 2013
ISBN: 978-0763671648

Reader’s Annotation
When Piddy transfers to a new high school, she unwittingly attracts the attention of a mysterious bully just by being herself. The events that follow teach Piddy who she can really count on for love and protection when her most authentic self is being threatened.

Plot Summary
Piddy Sanchez and her mother have lived in the same run-down apartment since Piddy was a baby, but one day her mother decides to move them to a new neighborhood with better apartments and better schools. In her first week, someone tells her that Yaqui Delgado wants to beat her up because Yaqui hates the way Piddy walks, and talks. Piddy doesn’t know Yaqui and can’t figure out why someone she’s never met would hate her so much. She tries to ignore threats from Yaqui and her friends, but she can’t ignore it anymore when the group of girls jump her on the street outside her house. As she tries to make sense of the attack and simultaneously pieces together information about her absentee father, Piddy learns to be honest with herself about her future goals and what she really wants out of life.

Critical Evaluation
The most striking characteristic of Medina’s book is the fact that the title character is not often seen. The reader does not get to know Yaqui the way they come to understand how Piddy thinks and feels. This is an arguably unorthodox literary device that keeps the reader’s focus on the protagonist instead of her antagonist. The book overall flows seamlessly, bringing the reader with Piddy on her coming of age journey.

Author Information
Meg Medina is an award-winning Cuban American author who writes picture books, middle grade, and YA fiction.

She is the 2016 recipient of the Pura Belpré honor medal for her picture book, Mango, Abuela and Me, and the 2014 Pura Belpré Award winner for her young adult novel, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass , which was also the winner of the 2013 CYBILS Fiction award and the International Latino Book Award. She is also the 2012 Ezra Jack Keats New Writers medal winner for her picture book Tía Isa Wants a Car.

Meg’s other books are The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind , a 2012 Bank Street Best Book and CBI Recommended Read in the UK; and Milagros: Girl from Away.

Meg’s work examines how cultures intersect, as seen through the eyes of young people. She brings to audiences stories that speak to both what is unique in Latino culture and to the qualities that are universal. Her favorite protagonists are strong girls.

In March 2014, she was recognized as one of the CNN 10 Visionary Women in America. In November 2014, she was named one of Latino Stories Top Ten Latino Authors to Watch.

When she is not writing, Meg works on community projects that support girls, Latino youth and/or literacy. She lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia.

Source: https://megmedina.com/about/

Genre
Fiction

Curriculum Ties
Health (Social and Family Issues)

Booktalking Ideas
Talk about the differences between Piddy and Yaqui’s personalities, home lives, self esteem, and prospective futures. Speculate a couple of different reasons why the author made the choice to make Yaqui such a large part of the story and the title character, and then only have her make two or three appearances in the story. Then give a rating from 1-5 and tell the audience why this is my rating, and take questions.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Booklist: Grade 8-11
School Library Journal: Grade 8 and up

Challenging Issues
Bullying
Language
Sexual Content and/or Nudity

Preparing for Potential Challenges
http://jeselynsminiyacollection.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-potential-challenges.html

Why the Item Was Chosen
Bullying has been an issue for school-aged children for several decades now. Teasing and violence among teenagers is an important issue and needs to be discussed the right way with young adults. They may be the victim of bullying, or they might feel themselves starting to head down a path where they are abusive to their peers. I included this book in my collection because it shows a serious incident of bullying that seems to have started because of jealousy and insecurity. When young adults start to spiral down a negative path, they are often told by their parents or teachers that they can be more, but the idea is abstract. They often continue to take their frustration out on the peers whom they perceive to be better than they are. By including Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass in my collection, I hope the idea that lashing out because of jealousy is not the answer becomes concrete for the teens who read it.