Mexican WhiteBoy

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. He’s got a 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. He may also have to open up to a friendship he never saw coming.  

Danny and his rival-turned-friend Uno become almost inseparable, which allows the reader to see how each teen deals with similar situations. Since they are both biracial, Danny and Uno struggle to fit in. Unlike his Mexican relatives, Danny doesn’t speak Spanish, making him feel as if “he’s not really Mexican. His skin is dark like his grandma’s sweet coffee, but his insides are as pale as the cream she mixes in.” Likewise, Uno struggles with his identity because his mom is Mexican and his dad is Black. Uno feels as if he’s “stuck in the middle.” His parents fight, and “one is pulling his left arm, the other pulling his right. Like it’s some kind of tug-of-war between black and Mexican, and he’s the rope.” The struggle to understand their place in the world is one that many teens will be able to relate to, especially those of mixed race. 

Mexican WhiteBoy also shows the difficulties Danny and Uno have because of their absent fathers. Danny hasn’t seen his father in three years and thinks his father is in Mexico. Danny’s emotional trauma is shown when Danny ruminates on his father’s absence. Danny also writes fictitious letters to his father. While the letters aren’t based on reality, they show Danny’s dream life. Unlike Danny, Uno sees his father once a month. Uno’s domineering father, who’s gotten off drugs and out of trouble, often lectures Uno about how finding God has made him a better person. The father-son relationships add to the story’s emotional depth.  

Matt de la Peña integrates Danny’s love of baseball and pitching into the story. Despite this, Mexican WhiteBoy is not a typical sports story since no baseball games are ever played. However, readers will empathize with Danny, who is trying to answer the questions: Who am I? Where do I belong? At the beginning of summer, he lacks confidence, is depressed, and self-harms. Danny’s relationship with Uno helps Danny find his footing in life and take his place on the baseball diamond. Danny and Uno’s friendship transforms both boys, and they help each other find hope for the future. Mexican WhiteBoy shines a light on the realities of life for many inner-city teens. The gritty scenes don’t sugarcoat the teens’ struggles. Instead, Mexican WhiteBoy conveys the importance of believing in yourself and shaping your own future. For those who’d like to explore another book that shines a light on the issue of self-acceptance, check out Bruiser by Neal Shusterman. Readers who want a book that focuses more on the game of baseball should read Heat by Mike Lupica and Fast Pitch by Nic Stone. 

Sexual Content  

• Danny’s cousin Sophia introduces him to her friends. When the girls flirt with Danny, Sophia says, “I see my homegirls gonna try and corrupt you, cuz. Better watch it, though, these heinas got mad STDs.” 
• Danny has a crush on Liberty. Danny’s cousin and her friends gossip about Liberty. Someone says the girl is “sixteen and already droppin’ her drawers for billetes.” 
• A man keeps showing up to watch Danny pitch. Uno says, “I thought homey was a molester or some shit.” 
• Danny’s aunt and uncle come home after a night on the town. “Uncle Tommy and Cecilia stumble in reeking of cigarettes and tequila. . . [Cecilia] extends her neck, but when Tommy’s lips get close she pulls back, giggling some more . . . He kisses her neck, reaches a hand up for his wife’s chest.” They disappear into the bedroom. 
• Uno, Danny and a group of other teens play truth or dare. Danny “watches Flaca, on a dare. . . saunter over to Raquel, take her face in her hands and kiss her while all the guys cheer and the girls laugh. He watches Sofia, on a dare . . . pull up Uno’s black Dickies shirt and leave a dark brown hickey on his already dark stomach.” On another dare, Danny’s cousin, Sofia, and Uno disappear into the bedroom and don’t return. 
• Danny comes out of the bathroom half-dressed. His cousin, Sofia, asks, “What were you doing in there so long, beating off?. . . It’s perfectly normal you know. I heard ninety-five percent of guys beat off and the other five percent are lyin’.” 
• Uno kisses Sofia “on the lips.” 
• After spending time with his crush, Danny gets up to leave. “She grabs Danny’s face in her hands and kisses him on the lips real quick. When they separate, she stands there giggling. Then Danny takes her face in his hands and kisses her.” 

Violence  

• During a stickball game, Uno throws the ball at another player, Raul, who has just finished batting. “The ball smacks him right in the ass. Raul trips and falls to the ground, clutching the back of his jeans.” 
• Danny accidentally hits Uno’s brother, Manny, with a bat. Uno “rushes Danny, shoves him with both hands. . . Danny backs up a couple of steps, surprised.” Danny’s cousin, Sofia, tries to stop the fight. “Uno shoves Sofia out of the way and gets in Danny’s face again, pokes a finger into his forehead.”  
• Before Danny can try to defend himself, Uno is “already stepping forward with all his weight, delivering an overhead right that smashes flush into Danny’s face. Snaps his head back. Buckles his knees.” When Danny falls, he “knows there was a loud crashing sound in his brain.” There is “warm liquid running down his neck. . . Running into his mouth. . . Salty. Smell of copper.” 
• Danny goes to the hospital because he has “a nasty gash under his left eye” and a dislocated jaw. He needs “five stitches under his left eye, ten to the back of his head. . .” 
• Danny and Uno are scamming people out of money. After one incident, three guys, including one named Carmelo, attack Uno. “One of the other guys slugs him in the back of the head. Uno spins around, narrowly avoids a wild right from another kid and punches the kid who hit him in the jaw. . . Uno breaks free and pounces on Carmelo. He gets him in a tight headlock, tries to choke the life off of him. But the other guys pull Uno off, hold his arms while Carmelo punches him twice in the stomach . . .” 
• Danny jumps into the fight to help Uno, who watches Carmelo “rear back and throw a punch right at [Danny’s] face, but he ducks it and the punch grazes the face of Carmelo’s own guy. . . [Danny] swings a vicious right and hits him on the side of the face, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Blood starts coming from the guy’s nose.” Danny and Uno have bruises but no serious injuries. The fight scene is described over two pages. 
• While at the beach, a man whistles at Danny’s mom. Her husband gets mad and attacks the man. Danny hears “the sound of punches landing and shouting and then sirens and cops shouting. . . the cops handcuffed his dad and pushed him into the back of their squad car. By his face.” Afterward, his father leaves for Mexico and doesn’t come back. 
• Uno’s stepdad, Ernesto, comes home smelling of tequila. He yells at Uno. “When Ernesto’s been drinking tequila he’s liable to swing an open hand. ‘Course it ain’t the open hand he’s scared of, it’s what he might do in response to the open hand. So instead of killing this man and getting locked up for real, he nods and nods and nods and nods.” 
• When a girl starts talking to Danny, her boyfriend, Marzel, gets mad. Marzel “rears back to throw a punch, but out of nowhere Uno steps in and blasts the guy from the side. Puts him flat on his back and then stands over him, glaring down. . . Marzel looks up at Uno, touches his bloody lip and holds his fingers in front of his eyes. He stands up slow, swings wildly at Uno, but Uno ducks it, lands two quick and powerful body blows, doubles Marzel over.” A couple guys break up the fight. 
• Danny’s parents separated when his father hit his mother, but there are no other details. 
• Danny, his uncle Ray, and other men were driving when a “big hippie guy came walking down the middle of the road . . . Ray hit the gas and ran smack into the guy, a nasty thumping sound against the hood. The guy’s head whipped all forward, and when Ray hit the brakes, he flew from the Bronco like a rag doll.” 
• The guy got up and “threw a right at Uncle Ray through the open window, but Uncle Ray ducked it, grabbed the guy by the arm and pulled him halfway into the cab and his boys started whaling on him. . . Rico smacked him in the same part of the face so many times, the sound of the blow actually changed. They became muted. Tim delivered blow after blow to the guy’s ribs and stomach.” 
• When the guy became limp, “Blood was all over the place, on Danny’s face. . . Uncle Ray flipped the Bronco into reverse and backed up. He turned the wheel slightly and pulled forward, ran over both the guy’s legs. Danny could actually hear and feel the bones crush and snap under the tires. . .” Uncle Ray races away when the “guy was completely still and covered in red.” The scene is described over three pages. 
• While in prison, “the scout” meets Danny’s dad. The scout tells Danny, “One day I got jumped by a bunch of black guys. . . They tried to kill me. Your dad was the only one who stepped in. He beat two of them real bad and the others backed away . . . And me and your dad turned into friends.” 
• Danny self-harms when he is upset. He digs “into the inside of his forearm with his nails to remind him he’s a real person.” He “holds his left arm against the sink and runs the sharp part of the tweezers across the inside. Goes back and forth in a straight line. Back and forth again. A thin trickle of blood starts creeping out. . . He drops the tweezers in the sink and turns on the water full blast. Washes the blood off. . . But the line of blood comes back even thicker. It’s all over the sink now, too.” 
• While at Danny’s school, Barker, a rich white kid, insults Uno. Danny “punches Barker in the face. Spins the kid around. . . He takes a step toward Danny and throws a wild right, but Danny ducks it, hits the kid again. Harder this time, in the eye.” A senior breaks up the fight, which is described over a page. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• Both the adults and the teens drink often; thus, not all of the drinking is described below. 
• A girl tells Danny they can hang out and drink “a little white Zin and shit.” 
• During stickball, there are some “young bucks, los ratas, hanging out on stolen bikes, pulling drags off stolen cigarettes.”  
• As Uno is walking, he sees “a broken forty bottle lying at the mouth of the gutter. . . Wonders how much alcohol must be flowing through National City’s gutters after an average Friday night.”  
• Uno’s father goes on a rant about drugs such as Ritalin, Vicodin, and Zoloft. His father says, “Who benefits more from all these prescriptions? The patient or the doctor?” 
• Uno’s father used to “smoke anything I could roll up in a Zig-Zag.” 
• While planning a trip, Sofia asks her friends who will be “sneakin’ in the thermos of jungle juice?” 
• The last time Danny saw his dad, they were sitting together, and his dad had a “beer dangling” in his hand. 
• Danny’s mom invites a man to have dinner with her and Danny. The man brings a bottle of champagne. 
• When Danny goes to family events, the adults “are drinking homemade horchata and Pacifico and Bud Light and tequila with lime—always tequila.” 
• Several of the teens smoke cigarettes. 
• Danny gets drunk for the first time. “He learns that jungle juice makes him feel light as a feather. That it makes him feel ten feet tall. . . Makes him feel like smiling and talking to anybody and everybody, at any time—though he hasn’t.” 
• When Danny was little, he was sick. His father stayed home to take care of Danny. However, his dad spent most of the time watching TV and smoking pot. Danny “remembers thinking [the smoke] looked like a magic carpet. And because he was a little high, took from the secondhand, he started wondering what it would be like to ride a magic carpet?” 
• Uno gives Danny a beer. “Danny cringes as the cold beer washes past his tastebuds, down his throat. It’s only his third time drinking beer—all summer—and he doubts he’ll ever like the taste.” 
• At a party, “Lolo puts a shot of tequila into Raquel’s belly button, [a guy] slurps it out and bites into a wedge of lime.” 
• A girl’s “real mom” died of a supposed overdose. 
• One of Danny’s uncles “breaks up a bud, rolls the weed in a Zig-Zag and licks. He pulls a lighter from his pocket and, out of pure habit, cups a hand over the fire.” 

Language  

• Both English and Spanish profanity are used often. Profanity includes ass, bitch, chingado, damn, goddamn, fuck, motherfucker, piss, puta, and shit. 
• Uno’s parents yell at each other. Uno’s mom calls his father “a good-for-nothing black bastard.”  In return, his father says, “Bitch, if I didn’t have the Holy Ghost. . . I swear to God.” 
• When Uno was young, he got hurt during a baseball game. His father began yelling, “Get up, you little punk-ass bitch! Get your ass up! Ain’t no son of mine gonna lay there crying!” 
• Jesus, Jesus Christ, God, and oh my God are occasionally used as exclamations.  
• A rich white kid calls Danny a “wetback.”  
• When Uno and Danny go to Danny’s school, a rich white boy says, “Now get your black ass outta here.” When Uno threatens him, the boy says, “Bring it, dude! I ain’t afraid of no blacky!” 

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• Sofia’s aunt goes to church. One of Sofia’s friends says, “That old broad is too fat to go to church.” 
• Uno’s father was a gangster and drug addict before he found Jesus. His father says, “I love you! Just like I love Jesus! He felt powerless, too, you know. Like you and me. When he took the most messed-up suckers and died for them, he died for us!” 
• Uno’s father said that “studying the Bible taught him to love himself. Taught him to look inward for companionship. Taught him to actually look forward to spending time alone with himself.” 
• Uno’s father says that suicide is “a deadly sin in two books. God’s and mine.” 
• Uno tells Danny about his father’s religion. “But sometimes I think maybe God’s down here. In regular everyday stuff. Like the power of a train.” 
• Uno‘s father says that everyone has “a little piece of God.”