Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena---Pt. 2

Pgs. 83-163

This book is still very entertaining. I'm not sure why it has caught my attention. In honesty, had I not been assigned this book to read, I might have passed it up on the book shelf. At this point in time, I'm pretty sure that I will lable Mexican Whiteboy as one of my favorites. It seems the more I read, the longer that list gets. Do I need higher standards? Or is it okay for me to have tons and tons of favorites books?

The longer I read the more I see the connections between Danny and Uno. Their issues about thier fathers grow increasingly more apparent and clear. They each want to live with their dad. Danny isn't sure why his dad disappeared. Uno knows why his dad left, but he doesn't understand what his father has in store for him (at this point, neither do I). Their journey to see thier fathers will tear them away from everything they have grown up around. The foreshadowing in the novel suggests that neither boy will like what they find when they finally get to their destinations.

Twice more, in this section, Danny writes fictitious letters to his father. I still feel that Danny is writing about the way he wanted or wants things to be. They reveal his deepest desires (one of which is to have his dad's approval and support). On page 108, Danny is thinking to himself about his workouts and the passage mentions, "But if he thinks he can, what difference does it make? If he thinks he's stronger, he is stronger". I think this applies directly to his letters. If he thinks it, maybe it's real. Maybe it happens. Though I have my theory on the use of the letters, it is still a theory. Hopefully, by the end of the book, I will figure out their importance and their use to pushing along the story. If it turns out that they were written just to take up space, I will be severly disappointed. Pena doesn't seem like an author that wastes space in a novel.

By this point in the book, most of the lesser characters have fallen by the way side. Pena has developed them enough in the first chapters that now you know about how they would work or react. The story has focused directly over Danny and Uno. This makes me happy, because it means we are finally getting to the meat! I can't wait for the next section.