Lupe Wong Won’t Dance

Lupe Wong wants to be the first female pitcher in the Major Leagues.   

She’s also championed causes her whole young life. Some worthy . . . like expanding the options for race on school tests beyond just a few bubbles. And some not so much . . . like complaining to the BBC about the length between Doctor Who seasons.

Lupe needs an A in all her classes in order to meet her favorite pitcher, Fu Li Hernandez, who’s Chinacan/Mexinese just like her. So when the horror that is square dancing rears its head in gym? Obviously, she’s not gonna let that slide.  

Lupe Wong Won’t Dance examines middle school drama by focusing on Lupe’s struggles. Middle-grade readers will empathize with Lupe as she tries to navigate the complexities of a middle school’s social hierarchy. Even though Lupe doesn’t mean to make enemies, she often does because she doesn’t always think about the consequences of her actions. For instance, Lupe gets upset and makes hurtful comments to her best friend, Andy. In response, Andy begins hanging out with the popular soccer girls and stops talking to Lupe. The two eventually work out their differences, and Lupe learns that she needs to “try to listen to people more instead of worrying about myself and my own goals.” 

Lupe’s family life is an integral part of the story. Lupe misses her father, who died in an accident. She also questions her father’s decision to quit playing baseball to care for his family. Lupe is desperate to meet Fu Li Hernandez because he reminds Lupe of her father, and many of Lupe’s actions are based on her need to earn straight A’s in order to meet Fu Li Hernandez. However, Lupe Wong Won’t Dance doesn’t include any baseball action other than one short practice and when Lupe finally meets Fu Li Hernandez. Still, meeting Fu Li Hernandez makes Lupe realize, “My dad was no quitter. Fu Li’s smile was like Dad’s the first time I whistled. The same smile when I finger-painted my entire face and body. . . And it’s the same smile he had when I hit my first baseball.”  

Lupe Wong Won’t Dance uses humor and middle school drama to highlight the importance of being inclusive. While the story explores the discrimination of the past, it does so in a nonjudgmental way that reminds readers that it’s important to take this advice: “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” Another important lesson the story imparts is the importance of self-acceptance. As Lupe’s friend says, “I shouldn’t change just so people will like me.” 

Lupe’s story is perfect for middle schoolers, especially those who often feel out of place. Lupe Wong Won’t Dance acknowledges that others can be cruel while challenging readers to overcome their difficulties. In the end, the story encourages readers to be kind and inclusive to others, even those who are different than you. For more middle school reads featuring a protagonist who feels out of place, read Out of Place by Jennifer Blecher, Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros, and A Thousand Questions by Saadia Faruqi. 

Sexual Content  

• In order to get out of square dancing, Lupe researches the song “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and discovers the song’s origins. A YouTube video explains that the song refers “to a man making his rounds with the ladies. . . Why are his eyes white as cotton?. . . if one listens carefully to the words, poor ol’ Cotton-Eyed Joe’s eyes were whited out by chlamydia or syphilis—”  
• After watching the YouTube video, Lupe looks up chlamydia and discovers it’s “a widespread, often asymptomatic sexually transmitted disease caused by chlamydia trachomatis” and syphilis is “a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete bacterium treponema pallidum.” 
• Lupe’s mom asks her if she’s gay. Lupe replies, “I don’t know. I’m only twelve. I thought I’d figure it out in a few years.” 
• On an online forum discussing students being forced to learn how to square dance, someone writes, “Outrageous! Should we bring back petticoats and chastity belts?”  

Violence  

• When Lupe was in second grade, she saw her classmate Zola picking her nose. Lupe began calling Zola “the Green Goblin” and the name stuck. “She eventually found out I was the one who started the Green Goblin nickname and hasn’t spoken a word to me since.” 
• While practicing her pitching, Lupe’s brother Paolo “takes me out at the knees. The wind is knocked out of me a little. He hoisted me back up by the waist of my jeans, giving me a wedgie.”  
• When Paolo learned how to square dance, he was partnered with a popular girl. And at the time, his mom was making the kids take “Crock-Pot leftovers for lunch” which caused Paolo to fart a lot. “It’s hard to hide a fart when you do-si-do and spin around. . . between hand sweats and farting. . . she told everyone. . . It’s taken two years for everyone to stop calling me Flutterbutt.” 
• In the PE locker room, Lupe finds her locker decorated in shaving cream that reads Guadapoopy. When Coach Solden sees it, she goes to wipe it off the locker. “Coach spins back around and one foot slips on remnant shaving cream. Her foot flies up in the air, and she tries to catch herself with one arm. She falls to the floor with a thump and a small crack. Lips pursed together, noises burble from her mouth that sound like cusswords in an alien language.” The coach broke her arm in the fall. 
• Lupe’s mom tells her about Coach Becky Solden’s square dancing experience. “One by one, as a joke, the boys approached her and then passed her by for other girls. She was the only girl left. . . Just like the rest, [Bruce] walked up to her, but he stopped and bowed. . . Just before Becky touched his hand, Bruce jumped back and ran towards the boys’ locker room screaming. . . For the entire two weeks, we danced, every time a boy danced with Becky, he made monkey noises under his breath. . . Even some of the girls made monkey noises and pretended to scratch their armpits.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• When researching the song Cotton-Eyed Joe, one article says “he could have gotten his cloudy eyes from alcohol poisoning.”  

Language  

• Variations of crap are used frequently. 
• Heck is used occasionally.  
• There is frequent name-calling such as jerk, dorks, doofus, idiot, nimrod, whiner, klutz, and others. 
• When Lupe shows the school principal pictures of a “cropped, magged-up version” of an eye, the principal says, “Oh, gawd.” 
• Samantha, a mean girl, calls Lupe “Guadaloopy.” Samantha also calls Lupe’s friend Andy, “Anda-loser.” In return, Lupe calls Samantha “Sam-o-nella.” 
• During PE, Samantha whispers loudly, “Word is [Lupe’s] parents found her at the dump. That’s why she smells like a blowout diaper.” 
• Lupe comments on “Skanky Potato Head.” 

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• Before dinner, Lupe’s family prays. Her brother says, “Thank you God, for all that we have. Bless this interesting food to our bodies. And please help Lupe with her cleanliness so she can be next to you . . .” 
• Before dinner, Paolo prays, “God, thank you for our grandparents who can cook. . . And thank you for giving Mr. Montgomery pinkeye so my algebra test is postponed. And help Lupe through puberty and bless this food.”  
• Lupe thinks about her father. During Qingming, “the Chinese version of Dia de los Muertos . . . Grandma Wong takes us to the cemetery to burn paper things that represent what she thinks Dad needs in the afterlife. This year she burned a paper house and fake money. [Lupe] snuck in a paper baseball and bat.”