Mexican Whiteboy (by Matt de la Pena)

Danny, son of a white mother and a Mexican father, hasn't seen his dad for a long time, and doesn't really know why he left. Danny has real talent for baseball, especially pitching, but he has been cut from his team because he chokes under pressure and his pitches go wild. With his darker skin, he doesn't fit in at the upscale private school he attends. Now he's spending the summer with his cousins and uncles in National City, hoping to figure out where he belongs, and why his father left. But he doesn't feel he fits in there either, and the truth about his father is more complicated than he imagines.

Danny seems to have everything going for him: he's a smart, straight-A student and a gifted athlete, good-looking, with a loving, supportive family and a new rich about-to-be stepfather. And yet he's utterly miserable, so much so that he is virtually mute, and has taken to cutting himself. Author Matt de la Pena makes his protagonist real and heartbreakingly sympathetic: Inside Danny's head, his pain is very understandable, and his flailing efforts to do something about it are all-too typically adolescent. He is an unusually fully-realized character, and the author weaves his character and feelings with a level of subtle understanding rare in teen novels. One incident of violence, though integral to the plot, may seem excessively described, and readers will find it hard to put out of their heads. But de la Pena delivers exciting sports action and some terrific supporting players, especially Danny's enemy turned friend Uno, and Uno's pontificating father. This is a moving and engrossing novel that will resonate with many teens.