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Danny's tall and skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. Ninety-five mile per hour fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.
But at his private school they don’t expect much from him. Danny’s half Mexican. And growing up in San Diego means everyone else knows exactly who he is before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes. And that’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. To find himself, he might just have to face the demons he refuses to see right in front of his face.
Dressed in a well-worn Billabong tee, camo cargo shorts and a pair of old-school slip-on Vans, Danny Lopez follows his favorite cousin, Sofia, as she rolls up on the cul-de-sac crowd with OG swagger.
A bunch of heads call out to her, "Hey, Sofe!" "Yo, girl!" "There she is!" and wave.
Sofia waves back, pulls Danny by the arm toward a group of girls sitting on a blanket in an uneven semicircle. "Oye putas," she says. "Yo, this my cousin Danny I was telling you about. He's gonna be staying with me for the summer." She smiles big—proud, Danny thinks. "Yo, cuz, these are my girls." She points them out and rattles off names: "Carmen, Raquel, Angela, Bee, Juanita, Flaca and Guita."
"Hey," the girls singsong in unison.
Danny nods with a shy smile, aims his eyes at the asphalt. He feels the heat of their stares and for a second he wishes he could morph into one of the ants zigzagging in and out of tiny crevices in the street. Their little lives, he thinks, totally off the radar.
Danny's sixteen, a shade over six foot and only a year younger than Sofia, but unless he's on a pitching mound he feels like a boy. He's long and thin with skinny arms hanging down skinny thighs—his arm length the reason he can fire a fastball so hard. His shoulders are wide, but his muscles have yet to catch up. Sometimes when he sees himself in a mirror it looks like his shirt is propped up by an upside-down coat hanger. Not a human body. Doesn't even look real.
And Danny's brown. Half-Mexican brown. A shade darker than all the white kids at his private high school, Leucadia Prep. Up there, Mexican people do under-the-table yard work and hide out in the hills because they're in San Diego illegally. Only other people on Leucadia's campus who share his shade are the lunch-line ladies, the gardeners, the custodians. But whenever Danny comes down here, to National City—where his dad grew up, where all his aunts and uncles and cousins still live—he feels pale. A full shade lighter. Albino almost.
Less than.
"And just so you know," Sofia adds, "Danny ain't no big talker, all right? He's mad smart, gets nothin' but A's at the best private school in San Diego, but don't get your chones in a bunch if you can't never pull him into a convo." Sofia looks prettier than Danny remembers. Less of a tomboy. Her hair long now, makeup around her eyes.
Carmen clears her throat, says: "He don't need to talk to give me no deep-tissue massage." She gives Danny an exaggerated wink.
"Ain't need no words for us to soak in a nice Jacuzzi bath together," Flaca says. She reaches out, puts her hand on one of Danny's Vans. "We can just sit there, Papi. Backs against them jet thingies. Take turns sippin' a little white Zin and shit. How's that sound, beautiful?"
Danny gives her a polite smile, but inside he's shrinking. He's trying to suck back into his shell, like a poked and prodded snail.
Behind his back he grips his left wrist, digs his fingernails into the skin until a sharp pain floods his mind, makes him feel real.
Angela and Bee comb Danny over with their almond-shaped eyes, devour his out-of-place surfer style like a pack of rabid dogs. Danny cringes at how different he must seem to his cousin's friends. They're all dark chocolate-colored, hair sprayed up, dressed in pro jerseys and Dickies, Timberlands. Gold and silver chains. Calligraphy-style tats. Danny's skin is too clean, too light, his clothes too soft.
For school I had to get a book with a theme of tolerance, and most of my classmates were choosing books about the holocaust. I too was going to read a holocaust book, but then I found this one. I read it very quickly and could hardly put it down! I've never read a book written from a boy's point of view (besides being forced to in class) and was a little unsure of reading a book about from a boy's point of view and about baseball, but I genuinely enjoyed it! Girls, if you don't think you'll like this book because it's a boy telling the story, I'm sure you will love it! I'd recommend this book to any teenager.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.TE-in-CC-atRAL
Posted December 15, 2009
Mexican Whiteboy was a book that had to be read in one sitting, not only because it was good, but because it was easier to follow that way. The book starts out with a fight between two half mexican boys - only difference: one is half black, Uno, and the other half white, Danny. However, the fight doesn't stop them from becoming good friends. They then set out to earn five hundred dollars so Uno can move out of the ghetto and live with his dad. Uno and Danny make the money by hustling baseball. Danny is an amazing pitcher with some control issues. Uno is an amazing Catcher with the will to help Danny through it. Mexican Whiteboy is an adventurous tale about how you can find friends in the most unlikely of places, and how you can find yourself making the best out of something that isn't very good. The book touches on some sensative points such as racism, gang violence, and underage abuse of drugs and alcohol, but the author does it in a way that it can't be taken offensively. I enjoyed this book because it made me think how mexicans outcast those who have any white in them, and how hard some people have it. Everyone will like Mexican Whiteboy because it has many genres of reading in it - sports, adventure, drama, and mystery. It's a quick, easy and thought - provoking read. Enjoy!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 16, 2012
This story is true to life in some parts, it shows that you can always fit in anywhere by being yourselve I must say the ending is very unexpected not gomna spoil it more to you but this is a MUST BUY BOOK!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 12, 2011
Mexican Whiteboy by Mat De La Pena is a book that takes place in the present day National City, California. Danny, the book's main character, is a half white half Mexican teenage boy who spends the summer with his dad's family in National City, with hopes of finding his dad who left him at a young age. While he is in National City he makes a friend named Uno through baseball, Danny is an amazing pitcher who lacks control but still helps Uno pull of hustles. Throughout the book Danny has realizations about his dad, his family, and street violence. This book is a must-read for all readers. It is an inspirational book that many teenagers can relate to.
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Posted August 29, 2008
this book is awesome, it gets you hooked from the very begining. it is very realistic and i liked it a lot. it would get a little boring at parts though.i really recommed you read it!it was a fun book and can get you thinking.after this i am going to read this authors first book Ball Don't Lie! please read this book! it rocked!!
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Posted September 6, 2008
I work in the public school system and so many of our kids are of a mixed race back background these days. I was so happy to been pointed in the direction of this wonderfully complex and sweet novel about a BOY trying to figure out who he is. Absolutely recommend this to everybody, but especially teens!
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Overview
Danny's tall and skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. Ninety-five mile per hour fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.
But at his private school they don’t expect much from him. Danny’s half Mexican. And growing up in San Diego means everyone else knows exactly who he is before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes. And that’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. To find himself, he might just have to face the demons he ...