Pocho / Mexican Whiteboy - by Matt de la Peña (Paperback)

About the Book

Danny is 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 an 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 else from him. Danny is brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can't speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they've got him pegged. But it works the other way too. And Danny's convinced it's his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico. That's why he's spending the summer with his dad's family. But to find himself, he may just have to face the demons he refuses to see--the demons that are right in front of his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming.

Book Synopsis

Pocho es una historia de amistad, aceptación y la lucha por encontrar tu identidad en el mundo.

Danny es alto y delgado. A pesar de no ser fuerte, sus brazos son lo suficientemente largos como para lanzar un balón de fútbol americano con tanta fuerza, que cualquier cazatalentos lo contrataría sin pensarlo dos veces. Pero Danny ni siquiera es parte de un equipo. Cada vez que se entra en el campo, es como si perdiera sus poderes.

Pero eso no tiene importancia. No es como si en la escuela privada a la que va esperen mucho de el. Danny es morenito. Y crecer en San Diego, una ciudad tan cercana a la frontera, significa que todo el mundo sabe exactamente quien es, incluso antes de pronunciar una palabra. Antes de saber que Danny no habla español y que su mamá es rubia y de ojos azules, ya todos han formado una impresión de el. Incluso el mismo. De hecho, Danny está convencido de que las discrepancias entre su piel y su cultura han sido la causa de que su padre haya regresado a México.

Por eso pasará el verano con la familia de su papá. Pero para encontrarse a sí mismo, primero tendrá que enfrentarse a los demonios que tanto ha evadido, y tendrá que aceptar abrirse a una amistad jamás imagino que formaría.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Newbery Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Matt de la Peña's Mexican WhiteBoy is a story of friendship, acceptance, and the struggle to find your identity in a world of definitions.

Danny is 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 an 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 else from him. Danny is brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can't speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they've got him pegged. But it works the other way too. And Danny's convinced it's his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico.

That's why he's spending the summer with his dad's family. But to find himself, he may just have to face the demons he refuses to see--the demons that are right in front of his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming.

Matt de la Peña's critically acclaimed novel is an intimate and moving story that offers hope to those who least expect it.

An ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Review Quotes

"Una exploración de la identidad de primer nivel". --SLJ

"Único en su realismo certero y en el retrato honesto de las complejidades de la vida para los jóvenes de pocos recursos...de la Peña transmite un mensaje conmovedor en el que insiste que, a pesar de los obstáculos, uno debe creer en si mismo y formar su propio futuro". --The Horn Book Magazine

"Las escenas de béisbol...chisporrotean como el balón de Danny. Su lucha por encontrar su lugar resonara con todos los adolescentes, pero especialmente con aquellos de raza mixta". --Booklist

"De la Peña mezcla los deportes y la calle en una satisfactoria búsqueda de identidad personal". --Kirkus Reviews

"Pocho...demuestra sin importar los obstáculos con los que te enfrentes, aun puedes alcanzar tus sueños con una actitud positiva. Este es mas que un libro sobre un jugador de béisbol--este es un libro sobre la vida". --Curtis Granderson, outfielder de los New York Mets

About the Author

Matt de la Peña es el primer autor méxicanoamericano en ganar la Medalla Newbery. Asistió a la University of the Pacific con una beca de básquetbol, y después recibió su maestría en escritura creativa en San Diego State University. Vive en Brooklyn, Nueva York, en donde enseña escritura. Es autor de varios libros para jóvenes lectores, entre ellos Pocho, su novela debut. Aquí estuvimos es su tercera novela.