Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

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.