Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

March 25, 2013
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 14âup. Agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

July 15, 2023
Vargas adapts Medina's Pura Belpr� Award winner into graphic-novel form. Piedad Maria Sanchez, Piddy for short, is starting sophomore year at a new school in Queens while her best friend, Mitzi, is off to school in Long Island. Piddy is Cuban and Dominican, but she struggles to find a place with her Latine peers in her new school. In fact, Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass; as Piddy says, "I don't fit her idea of a Latina at all." Though Piddy tries to keep her head down and avoid confrontation, the bullying at school continues to escalate from threats and misogynistic name-calling to being jumped by a group of girls on her way home. Living with constant anxiety takes its toll on Piddy: She pushes away her mom and Mitzi and even ponders dropping out of school altogether to escape her tormentors. Readers will find themselves in turns rooting for Piddy and frustrated by her choices. In each of her relationships, Piddy learns how secrets can fester and that intimacy and trust are built through transparency. This graphic adaptation is a fast-paced page-turner. Vargas keeps the text to a minimum and communicates much of Piddy's inner turmoil wordlessly, proving the effectiveness of this format. The panels, illustrated in blue, gray, black, and white, have clean, minimalist backgrounds, putting the people and their emotions front and center. A decade on, as relevant as ever and likely to capture the hearts of even more readers. (Graphic fiction. 14-18)

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August 1, 2023

Gr 8 Up-Things are quickly changing for 10th grader Piddy Sanchez. When a dilapidated apartment building's unsafe conditions prompt Piddy's mom to move the two of them to a new home, a new school comes with it. Not only that, Piddy's best friend Mitzi has left the neighborhood for Long Island, and for some reason Piddy can't understand, Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass. As the unwanted attention from Yaqui escalates, Piddy begins to lose more and more of herself as she struggles with how best to address it. Domestic abuse and bullying are incorporated into the story, with the former never made visible to readers while the latter is, in the form of physical assault against Piddy on behalf of Yaqui and her friends. Punching, hair pulling, kicking, scratching, and removal of clothing is depicted over two spreads, as is cyber-bullying, when a video of the incident is shown to have been posted online. Despite the depiction of physical violence, the majority of the story is spent addressing the mental and emotional toll of the bullying. A minimalist color palette consisting of cornflower blue, black, white, and grays reflects the weight and solemnity of Piddy's difficulties while also softening some of the severity of her experiences. Piddy is Cuban and Dominican, family friend Lila appears Black, and a background character is seen wearing a hijab. Untranslated Spanish is sprinkled throughout, and the preface includes an author's note. VERDICT A carefully and skillfully approached, modernized adaptation that is sure to introduce Piddy and provide understanding to a new crop of teen readers.-Alea Perez

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 8, 2023
Grades 7-10 Award-winning Medina's Pura Belpr� Honor Book gets the graphic treatment in this straightforward adaptation. Piddy isn't thrilled about her new school to begin with, but when she hears that the school bully, Yaqui Delgado, wants to beat her up, school becomes harder and harder to bear. With the help of some understanding friends and family, Piddy gradually learns how to speak up for herself. Vargas' gray scale and soft blue artwork utilizes body language and facial expression to convey some of the emotional depth of the source material, but the nuance and skill of Medina's writing, a hallmark of her books, is somewhat lost in the new format. Piddy's questions about her father are the most artfully explored, with objects obscuring the face of her father in depictions of her mother's memories. Readers unfamiliar with the novel might have trouble piecing together the deeper motivations and reactions of the characters, but those who've read the novel before might appreciate the different venue for the story.

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