Reason Read: TIOLI #4, ROOT
This was received as a free download from AudioFileSync summer program and is the story of mixed race kids searching for identity. Besides mixed race it also looks at families where the biological father is not present. A search for identity. A young adult book. ( )

teen fiction (half Mexican/half white boy spends the summer with the family of his dad, who left when he was small, makes friends, maybe meets a girl, and practices a lot of baseball)

At first I didn't think I would relate that much to the characters (the first chapters make the setting seem very so-called "barrio" but after that it becomes more character driven, and the not-quite-fitting-in-here-or-there is easy to identify with, plus there is the mystery of why Danny's father left. Not everything gets completely resolved at the end, but it's a very realistic-feeling, satisfying story.

contains: underage drinking, teenage parents, violence/fighting, self harm. ( )

A very enjoyable and hopeful read about the complex family relationships we sometimes have. The story alternates between two teenage boys: Danny (half white, half Mexican) and Uno (half Mexican, half black) united by difficult circumstances, a search for their own identities and a path to success, and baseball. Both of the boys' struggles are presented in realistic and engaging ways. ( )

Title was held at MHS Library. Matt de la Pena is an excellent author.

FROM SYNC: Danny's tall and skinny. Even though he's not "built", his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce that any college scout would sign him on the spot. Ninety-five-mile-an-hour fastball, but the boy's not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound, he loses it. Ball ends up so far out of the strike zone it's laughable.

But at his private school, they don't expect much else from him. Danny's brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego, that close to the border, means everyone knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can't speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they've got him pegged. But it works the other way too. And Danny's convinced it's his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico.

That's why he's spending the summer with his dad's family. Only, to find himself, he may just have to face the demons he refuses to see - the demons that are right in front of his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming. ( )

I kind of feel I can relate to Danny. That's why I loved the book so much. And I love Danny! He's such a sweetheart. ( )