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  • Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

Author
Publication Date
August 26, 2014
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  11th − 12th
Language
English
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

Currently out of stock
Description

"Honest and exquisitely crafted." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy's life. In an all-too-realistic novel, Meg Medina portrays a sympathetic heroine forced to decide who she really is.

Publication date
August 26, 2014
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780763671648
Lexile Measure
670
Publisher
Candlewick Press (MA)
BISAC categories
YAF046140 - Young Adult Fiction | People & Places | United States - Hispanic & Latino
Library of Congress categories
Fiction
Schools
Young adult fiction
Juvenile works
Bullies
Teenage girls
Bullying in schools
Young adult works

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 7 Up—Piedad Sanchez moved at the beginning of her sophomore year, and a few weeks into classes at her new school a girl comes up to say that "Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass." As a first line, it sets the focus for Piddy, who has always had friends, gotten good grades, and managed quite well in her old school. There's no real reason for the enmity, but the threat is more than real and begins to permeate Piddy's life. Gradually readers see that her mother's best friend, who works at a hair salon and has been her support, is the only adult who even has a clue about what is going on. The Queens, New York, neighborhood is solidly Hispanic and the language reflects the culture. Piddy does a downward spiral as the torment gets increasingly worse. The school reaction and the dilemma she faces are realistically portrayed. Yaqui can get to her in and out of school, and she is vulnerable to being terrorized by a whole group of Yaqui supporters. The way that the abuse and threats impact Piddy to try to become a bad girl herself is logically presented. The plight of a pair of abandoned kittens parallels her own loneliness and loss. The Latino cultural milieu adds a richness and texture that lifts this up above many problem novels. The plot points are dexterously intertwined, and the characters are distinct. A real bonus for those looking for a bullying book for older readers that is not simplistic.—Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library, CO

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

High school sophomore Piddy Sanchez can't catch a break. She's just moved and transferred schools, separating her from her best friend. Piddy's curvy figure attracts the attention of both boys and school bully Yaqui, who is jealous and won't accept ambitious and independent Piddy into her group of Latinas, and threatens to harm her. Piddy's life is complicated enough before Yaqui's cruel threats and violent attacks. Outside of school, Piddy works with a flamboyant family friend at a hair salon; has just discovered that her traditional mother may have secrets about Piddy's absent father; develops romantic feelings for a childhood friend; and worries if her dream of working with animals can come true. When Yaqui takes things too far, Piddy has to decide what she is willing to do to defend herself. Piddy is a strong heroine whose sense of self is realistically jarred by her conflicting emotions. Medina (The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind) effectively prods at the motivations behind bullying (without excusing it) and sensitively explores the delicate balance between belonging and maintaining individuality. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Mar.)

Copyright 2013 Publisher's Weekly LLC. Used with permission.

Meg Medina
Meg Medina, the 2023­­­­-2024 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, is a Cuban American author who writes for readers of all ages. Her middle-grade novel Merci Suárez Changes Gears received a Newbery Medal and was a New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year, among many other distinctions. Its sequel, Merci Suárez Can't Dance, received five starred reviews, while Merci Suárez Plays It Cool received four stars, with Kirkus Reviews calling it "a fabulous finale to a memorable trilogy." Her most recent picture book, Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, received honors including a Charlotte Zolotow Award and was the 2020 Jumpstart Read for the Record selection, reaching 2.24 million readers. She received a Pura Belpré Author Award Honor for her picture book Mango, Abuela, and Me. Her young adult novel Burn Baby Burn earned numerous distinctions, including being long-listed for the National Book Award and short-listed for the Kirkus Prize. Meg Medina received a Pura Belpré Author Award and a Cybils Award for her young adult novel Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, which has been adapted and illustrated as a graphic novel by Mel Valentine Vargas. She also received an Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award for her picture book Tía Isa Wants a Car. When she is not writing, Meg Medina works on community projects that support girls, Latino youth, and literacy. She lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia.
Nevada Young Readers' Award
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Nominee 2016 - 2016
Pura Bulpré
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Winner
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