2/22/13

Mexican WhiteBoy pages 1-94

 

 

Dear Reader,

 

In the Mexican WhiteBoy by de la Pena, divorce plays a key role in the way the kids react to challenges in life. One boy, Danny, has a hard time fitting in because he is half Mexican and half white. Due to the problems in his life, Danny is very shy. His parents divorced and he lives with his mom but wants to find his dad. “Ever since his dad took off, Danny’s drifted apart from his mom. He hardly even acknowledges her presence these days. She’s the reason he went quiet in the first place. The reason his dad’s gone. The reason he’s whitewashed and an outsider even with his own family” (41). Danny feels like an outsider because of his parents divorce. Also, he’s never felt like he fits in because he’s half white, half Mexican. “He’s Mexican, because his family’s Mexican, but he’s not really Mexican…Danny holds the pencil above the paper thinking: I’m a white boy among Mexicans, and a Mexican among white boys” (90). These are Danny’s feelings throughout the book so far. Danny finds it difficult to fit in because of his appearance and his broken family. Why can’t Danny just accept who he is?

 

Danny is staying the summer in National City where his dad grew up. He is staying in National City with his dad’s side of the family so that he doesn’t have to stay with his mom and mom’s boyfriend for the summer. Danny doesn’t want to stay the summer with his mom because he doesn’t feel that he connects with his mom. He wants to find his dad and unite with his Mexican family.  

 

Danny has always been good at baseball, but even in this sport he doesn’t fit in because he’s better than everybody else. He finds this out in a home run derby on Potomac Street, in National City on page 8 in the book.  Before Danny arrived in Mexico, Uno was the best player on the team. Nobody on the team thinks that Danny will be any good at playing baseball. But when Danny smashes the tennis ball over two houses everyone is in shock. Nobody believes that he can hit the ball like that again but he does two more times. Wherever he goes and whatever he does Danny is always an outsider. I wish that Danny could be happy with his baseball ability.

 

Uno gets very jealous when Danny can hit the ball farther than him, so to get revenge Uno fires a fastball to the inside. The impact of the ball on the bat was so hard that the bat flew from Danny’s hands and hit Uno’s younger brother Manny in the face. Uno starts yelling at Danny. “Danny glances at the guys watching from behind Uno. He’s about to say he’s sorry again, louder this time, so he’ll be heard, but it’s too late. Uno’s already gritting his teeth. Uno’s 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” (24). Why couldn’t Danny stick up for himself? Was there any other way that Uno could handle his emotions and anger instead of taking it out on Danny? I disagree with the way that Uno handled himself. I feel like he could have been more mature and not let his jealousy control the way he acted. Uno gets jealous again when they are measuring the speed of the ball on page 81. Again, Uno was the best pitcher out of everybody before Danny came. Uno’s fastest pitch is 69mph and Danny’s fastest pitch is 92mph. Uno becomes resentful because he’s used to receiving all the attention. Divorce plays a key role in the way that Danny and Uno act.  

 

I feel that his parents’ divorce probably has something to do with the way Uno acts. Both Danny’s parents and Uno’s parents are divorced. It is clear in this book that divorce affects the whole family and the choices that they make. Uno grew up in a household where there is a lot of anger and stress and Uno takes that pain out on Danny. 

 

A novel called The Pinballs by Betsy Cromer Byars is similar to Mexican WhiteBoy in the sense of divorce, broken families and outcasts. The Pinballs is about three kids who are outcasts from different families all end up in a foster home because their parents hurt them physically. Thomas, Carlie, and Harvey all are taken in by a foster family. Over time the three teens grow together and learn to trust one another. In the beginning they were all angry with each other because of the way their parents treated them. This is similar to the way Uno acts towards Danny. Uno is jealous at Danny. Uno’s parents are divorced and they are always arguing so Uno sees them arguing and thinks its okay to act like that with other people. I’m hoping that by the end of the book Danny and Uno will become friends just like Thomas, Carlie, and Harvey and learn that jealousy isn’t the answer.

 

So far I am enjoying this novel and am excited to find out what happens next in Danny’s baseball journey and the conflicts between Uno and Danny.

 

Sincerely,

Sara Houle