Review by Booklist Review
When Piedad Piddy Sanchez hears that Yaqui Delgado is going to crush her, she has no idea why she has become a target of one of the roughest girls in her new Queens school. But Yaqui tells everyone Piddy is a skank who shakes her ass when she walks, and as the bullying escalates from threats to physical attacks, Piddy finds herself living in constant fear. A strong student with a bright future at her old school, Piddy starts skipping school, and her grades nosedive. After a truly upsetting attack on Piddy is uploaded to YouTube, she realizes this isn't a problem she can solve on her own. Medina authentically portrays the emotional rigors of bullying through Piddy's growing sense of claustrophobic dread, and even with no shortage of loving, supportive adults on her side, there's no easy solution. With issues of ethnic identity, class conflict, body image, and domestic violence, this could have been an overstuffed problem novel; instead, it transcends with heartfelt, truthful writing that treats the complicated roots of bullying with respect.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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 14-up. Agent: Jennifer Rofe, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-The title character, whom the protagonist, Piedad "Piddy" Sanchez barely knows, wants to kick her butt. Piddy has no idea why the bully wants to hurt her. Along with the imminent threat of a beatdown, the teen is also struggling with her relationship with her mother and questions about her absent father. Medina's timely novel shows teens that they have options when responding to acts of violence and peer pressure. Perhaps the strongest aspect of this book is the way in which Medina evokes the atmosphere of a loving Latino home. She creates a lively portrait of a single mother and daughter who are trying to survive contemporary urban life with the help of extended "family," including Piddy's mom's best friend, Lila, and a cast of characters at the beauty salon where the girl works part-time. There is a sense that Yaqui's animosity toward Piddy may be because the aspiring vet is not "Latina" enough-she's too white, too educated. One of the story's undercurrents is the notion of what it means to actually be "Latino." (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A move to a new neighborhood in Queens means a new high school for almost- sixteen-year-old Piddy (short for Piedad) Sanchez. Instead of a welcoming committee, she gets word that someone she doesn't even know has it in for her. Yaqui Delgado turns out to be one of those girls Piddy's mother calls "nobodies," or, as Piddy explains it, "They're her worst nightmare of what a Latin girl can become in the United States. Their big hoop earrings and plucked eyebrows...their tight T-shirts that show too much curve and invite boys' touches." Yaqui may think she's tough, but it's Piddy and some of the other female characters, namely Piddy's mother and her mother's flamboyant best friend Lila, who make more lasting impressions. Medina's setting stands out as well, especially her portrayal of the bustling Latina-owned beauty salon, Salon Corazon, where Piddy works on weekends, folding towels and sweeping up hair. It's here where Piddy overhears unsettling gossip about her mother and father, a man Piddy has never met -- gossip that makes her question whether her mother is as virtuous as she purports to be. As the bullying intensifies, so do Piddy's fear and lack of self-worth, to the point that she's soon spending more time retreating from her life than living it. Is it easier to give up and become a "nobody," or should she fight back? Teens will identify with Piddy's struggle to decide. christine m. heppermann(c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A nuanced, heart-wrenching and ultimately empowering story about bullying. When 15-year old Piedad Sanchez's mother moves them to another part of Queens, Piddy is unprepared for the bullying that awaits her at her new school. Yaqui Delgado doesn't know Piddy but decides she's stuck-up and shakes her ass when she walksaccusations weighty enough to warrant a full-fledged bullying campaign. As her torments escalate, readers feel the intensity of Piddy's terror in her increasingly panicked first-person narration. Interweaving themes of identity, escapism and body image, Medina takes what could be a didactic morality tale and spins it into something beautiful: a story rich in depth and heart. Piddy's ordeal feels 100 percent authentic; there are no easy outs, no simple solutions. Displaying a mature understanding of consequences and refreshingly aware (no deducing supporting characters' feelings before the protagonist, here), Piddy also exhibits an age-appropriate sense of vulnerability. The prose is both honest ("growing up is like walking through glass doors that only open one wayyou can see where you came from but can't go back") and exquisitely crafted ("Fear is my new best friend. It stands at my elbow in chilly silence"). Far more than just a problem novel, this book sheds light on a serious issue without ever losing sight of its craft. (Fiction. 13-18)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
