Mexican WhiteBoy

Danny Lopez, the protagonist, is an incredibly shy and introverted young teenager from San Diego who attends Leucadia Prep. Danny is biracial, Mexican and White and sometimes feels inadequate around both Mexican and white people because he's "a shade darker than the white kids" and "pale...a full shade lighter" than his Mexican family members that and the fact he does not speak Spanish. The summer before his junior year he goes to stay with his cousin, Sofia and Uncle Tommy in National City . Throughout the summer Danny, Sofia and her neighborhood friends get into some shenanigans; going to parties, staying out late, going to the Del Mar Fairgrounds, drive-in movies, typical teenager activities.

While hanging with Sofia's crew, Danny make an enemy turned best friend, Uno, also a biracial kid from the neighborhood. Uno is Black and Mexican and does feel some of the same feeling as Danny. While playing Derby Baseball in the neighborhood, Danny is beating them in their own game. While playing Danny see the baseball scout he saw at Leucadia Prep during baseball try-outs. On the last hit Danny accidentally hits Uno's mentally disabled little brother Manny in the face. When Uno sees this he gets even more upset because he was already losing the game. He then punches Danny knocking him down and his head hits the concrete requiring stiches. After some times passes they both apologize and their friendship begins to buds. Uno's dad shares with him that he wants Uno to come and live with him and his wife and daughter in Oxnard her just needs Uno to make $500 to get him there. Uno then devises a plan to where they hustle up some money with Danny.

Uno shares with Danny the plan to hustle the top performing baseball player at some of the San Diego high schools. The first time Danny gets nervous and chokes, losing Uno's money. After a night hanging out by the train tracks by the recycle plant with Uno they discuss the power of the train and the subsequent matches with other high schoolers they win and Danny still sees the scout.

Danny gets a phone call from his mother in San Francisco, who tells him about the superficial beauty of the city and how she and Julia, his sister, are enjoying themselves with Randy, his mom's fiancé. After some time Danny hears what he thinks are sniffles from his mother which suddenly turns into her venting to him about how she hates San Francisco and she misses him and their home in Leucadia. She shares that Randy is going to send him two tickets to the San Diego Padres game and she will get him at the end of the week.

At the game, Danny and Uno call for hot dog but Danny notices the hot dog slinger. The slinger slowly backs away while Danny then tells Uno he'll be back with hot dogs. As he pursues the hot dog slinger they end up in a back room with so many hot dog buns. Danny asks why a baseball scout would be a hot dog concessions worker. The guy explains that he works there and is not a baseball scout. He also shares with Danny that his dad saved his life and told him to watch Danny. Danny asks the man how his dad saved his life. The man ignores his question. Danny presses his question but the man continues to ignore. Danny asks one last time and the man shares a story of Danny's dad saved his life in prison.

Danny is completely shocked by this revelation. He goes back to Uno and tells him he forgot about the hot dogs when he asks. Once he gets back to Sofia's house he goes to the bathroom and digs his nails into his flesh to feel something, he does not. Danny persists and still does not feel anything. He searches the medicine cabinet and finds tweezers. He cuts his arm and he does feel it. He really feels it and he realizes what he has just done. Sofia calls for him to open the door as he tries to clean himself up. Telling her to wait washes the blood but it keeps returning. By this time Sofia is screaming for Danny to open the door. When he finally does she sees the bloodied cut and bathroom sink, she drags him to her room and grabs a towel and applies pressure to the wound. As she does this she repeats until they fall asleep, " You didn't do nothin' wrong cuz."

At their last hustle before goes home Danny realizes that he at Leucadia Prep and he is going to play against Kyle Sorenson, one of the best baseball players Danny knows. Kyle is so good he is expected to be one of the 1 draft picks for the MLB. As they approach the diamond Danny recollects on how far he has come from try-outs where he failed miserably to derby game and the hustling around San Diego high school and back to Leucadia Prep he is determined to play his best. While there Kyle's other teammates are throwing all different kinds of racial slurs at Uno raising tension the two sides. Danny throws his best pitches and his just barely striking Kyle out. The coach intently watching Danny's pitches. With two strikes they go back and forth 13 more times. As the tension between both sides reaches its boiling point when Danny and Uno lose and one of Kyle's teammates hits Uno. Danny rushes and punches twice knocking flat on his bottom. The entire group get in a scuffle and someone grabs Danny. Danny tries to fight him of only to discover its Kyle telling him to get out of here and that, " Coach'll call you!"

Once home Sofia and Liberty, the young lady that Danny has been liking for a while, have decorated the house for a proper send off before him mom pick him up the following morning. They has their dinner, chat about day and the that Sofia will be staying with at Danny's house. As the night comes to an end Uno tells the ladies that he and Danny have to go out. They go to the train tracks by the recycling plant talking about what is going to happen when Uno gets to Oxnard or when Danny gets back to Leucadia. After that Uno tells Danny that he located Danny's dad and that they can visit him early in the morning before his mom pick him up in the morning. Danny's mind is buzzing questions and a little hesitance but finally decides to go see his dad in prison. THE END

A New York Times reviewer described the author's characterization of Danny as "remarkably human," and his treatment of the themes of self-discovery as "never corny, sentimental or sappy."[3]

Additionally, the novel's use of Spanglish sets it apart from other young adult novels, making English-speaking "readers . . . feel like outsiders among the hard-edged kids of National City," a reviewer for The School Library Journal noted. However, with time, the reviewer added, "[the characters'] language starts to feel familiar and warm."[4] Rohrlick, for Kliatt, was also impressed with de la Peña's "terrific dialogue" and his use of "street slang".[5] Reviewers recommend the novel for "mixed race"[6] readers. The issues of biculturalism in Mexican WhiteBoy and other works were the subject of a conference presentation by the author at the University of Arizona's 2010 Tucson Festival of Books.[7]

On 1 January 2012, Mexican WhiteBoy was among a number of books banned in Tucson as part of an initiative to ban Mexican American Studies Department Programs in the Tucson Unified School District. State officials claimed the book contained critical race theory which they deemed as “promoting racial resentment.”[8] However some students and their parents sued the authorities claiming that when the Tucson Unified School District banned the Mexican American studies program, they were violating their rights under the First and 14th amendments. In August 2017, A. Wallace Tashima, a federal judge, ruled that on both counts the students and parents had their rights violated.[9]

• An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults (Top 10 Pick)
• 2008 Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Ribbon List
• 2009 Notable Books for a Global Society
• 2009-2010 Texas TAYSHAS Reading list
• A Junior Library Guild Selection[10]

• Reader's Guide from Random House