Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

3.5 Very realistic with a strong depiction of a loving but contentious mother/daughter relationship. Some elements felt dated after only 5 years but definitely has strong kid appeal!

Received free copy as part of Amazon Vine.

I'm obviously not the target audience for this book–it's aimed at middlegrade kids–but I admire everything about it. The characters are complex and believable, the situation the protagonist finds herself in feels real and high-stakes, the dialogue is spot-on, and the language is fluid and perfect. Piedad Sanchez is faced with a bully in her school at a time when she is also dealing with the loss of a friend, a first attachment to a boy, and anxiety about the future.

This is an admirable book. Kids should read it.

It's an honest book focused on bullying.