Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

 Medina, M. (2013). Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press. 

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Realistic Fiction 

2014 Pura Belpre' Award Winner

Grades 8 and up

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick your Ass by Meg Medina is a realistic fiction novel that deals with themes of bullying, self-esteem, and family issues.  Piddy Sanchez and her mother move to another part of Queens because the apartment building they were living in is falling apart.  On her first day at a new school, Piddy is told that Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass.  Piddy doesn't even know who Yaqui is or why she would want to kick her ass.  At first she tries to ignore it and focus on finding out about her dad, continuing to make good grades, and working at the neighborhood hair salon.  But it becomes obvious that Yaqui means business when she jumps Piddy on the street and the video ends up on the web.  Piddy is in a downward spiral of truancy, anger, and poor choices based on the bullying from Yaqui.  In the end, Piddy must decide who she really is and whether she can stand up for herself.



Partner Titles:

Rowell, R. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's Press.

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Contemporary Fiction

2014 YALSA Teen’s Top Ten Book of the Year

Grades 9 and up

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell could partner well with Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina because of the themes of bullying and body image.  Eleanor, just like Piddy, is new to school and is bullied right away because she looks different.  Set in 1986, Eleanor and Park is a YA contemporary fiction book about two teenage misfits. We get alternating points of view between Eleanor and Park.  Eleanor is new to Park's school and ends up sitting with him on the bus.  She has flaming red hair, is overweight, and dresses differently than everyone else.  Eleanor is bullied because of her appearance and she also has struggles at home because of her step-father.   At first Park doesn't like Eleanor and wishes that she didn't have to sit with him on the bus, however, as time passes he starts to include her in reading his comic books and listening to his music.  As their relationship develops, they face challenges. 

Meyer, S. (2013). Teen Ink: Bullying under attack : True stories written by teen victims, bullies & bystanders. HCI Teens.

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Nonfiction
Grades 7 and up

Bullying Under Attack: True Stories Written By Teen Victims, Bullies, and Bystanders edited by Stephenie Meyer would partner well with Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass because of the themes of bullying.  Students can read true stories from teens of bullying from all sides: the victims, the bullies, and bystanders. 

 Medina, M. (2012). The girl who could silence the wind. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

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Contemporary Fiction

Grades 9 and up

The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind by Meg Medina would be a great partner with Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass if you wanted to complete an author study in class.  Sonia is thought to have special protective powers in her small mining town of Tres Montes.  She knows that she doesn't have any special powers, but she doesn't want to disappoint anyone in her town.  When she gets a chance to go to the city to work, she jumps at the opportunity.  Then she finds out that her brother has gone missing and it might be too late.....

 Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

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Fiction

Grades 7-10

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie makes a good partner for Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina because of the bullying theme.   Junior is a Spokane Indian who enjoys drawing and is often bullied.  He was born with water on the brain and has many health issues. He lives in poverty on the reservation with an alcoholic father.  A teacher encourages him to want more for his life so he decides to switch to a white school off of the reservation and this just causes more problems.  As he struggles to fit in at his new school, he is ostracized in his own community and even bullied more.  SLJ says this should be a first purchase for all libraries.  

 Korman, G. (2007). Schooled. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Book Cover from Amazon

Fiction

Grades 5-7

Schooled by Gordon Korman could partner well with Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina because of the bullying theme.  This book has a lower reading level and might help to support students who struggle with reading.  Cap has been home schooled by his hippy grandmother on a commune, but when she is hospitalized because of a fall he finds himself thrown into middle school becoming the butt of jokes.  He is smart, however, he is extremely naive and inexperienced with people.  

Teaching Ideas:

1. Bullying- Health 9 SOL9.1 -The student will apply health knowledge and skills to the development and analysis of personal goals to achieve and maintain long-term health and wellness. Key concepts/skills include  i)  peaceful resolution of conflicts.  Complete a lesson on teen bullying involving the guidance counselor and focus on peaceful resolution to conflicts. Using the interactive Smartboard, check out stopbullying.gov and have students make a list of ideas for peaceful resolutions to conflicts.  Also give some scenarios for students to discuss ways to resolve in a peaceful manner.

2. Reading- English 10 SOL 10.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze literary texts of different cultures and eras. e) Identify universal themes prevalent in the literature of different cultures.  Students will see that bullying is unfortunately a universal theme.  You could pair with Eleanor and Park then you could have Latin, Half-Korean, and American cultures to draw from.  

3. Journal- English 9 SOL 9.6 The student will develop narrative, expository, and persuasive writings for a variety of audiences and purposes.  Set up a class blog. Ask students to complete a journal entry thinking about whether students at school are expected to sit with their own kind as in the novel.  For example, does Hispanic sit with Hispanic, nerds with nerds, athletes with athletes, etc.  Ask to to complete entry on the blog and comment on their fellow classmates entries also.  Once students have finished have a class discussion.

4. Guidance/Planning for Future- MA1. Understand the relationship of personal abilities, goals, skills, interests, and motivation to academic achievement, MA2. Understand the relationship of dependability, productivity, and initiative to academic success, MA3. Understand the importance of high school course and/or program selection in relation to future academic and career options, MA4. Understand high school graduation requirements, MA5. Understand individual assessment results in relation to educational progress, MA6. Demonstrate the skills needed to develop a high school educational plan based on ability, interest, and achievement.  Piddy is very bright and excels in school.  She is in advanced classes and even wants to attend McCleary, a science magnet school.  Work with the guidance counselor to develop a lesson/class discussion about future plans.  Discuss future goals and plans, college, careers, etc.  This lesson could lead into the research lesson.

5. Research- English 9 SOL 9.8 The student will use print, electronic databases, online resources, and other media to access information to create a research product. In the novel, Piddy loves elephants and hopes to study and work with them one day.  Ask students to research something that they have an interest in for a career.  Students can use both print and online sources.  Ask them to represent their findings in a creative way using a presentation tool such as Emaze, Prezi, Animoto, or Powerpoint.

Further Explorations: 

Meg Medina's Official Blog- Follow the author here for photos, calendar, and books.

Follow Meg Medina's Twitter- click here.

Fan of Facebook.....click here to like Meg Medina's page.

Educator's Guide- In this guide there are guided reading questions for each chapter.

Book Trailer- Check out this book trailer of Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass.

Bullying- Take a look at stopbullying.gov to find out what it is, who is at risk, and how to prevent it.

Anti-Bullying Procedures for Schools- Click here for information about schools and colleges, education staff, learners, and parents. 

Bibliography:

Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

Anti-Bullying Procedures in Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Information/Bullying/Anti-Bullying-Procedures-in-Schools.html 

Educator's Guide: Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. (2014, July 18). Retrieved from https://teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.wordpress.com/september-2014-yaqui-delgado-wants-to-kick-your-ass/

Korman, G. (2007). Schooled. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Medina, M. (n.d.) Facebook. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/meg.medina.10

Medina, M. (2012). The girl who could silence the wind. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

 Medina, M. (n.d.). Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/meg_medina

Medina, M. (2013). Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

Meg Medina's Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://megmedina.com/ 

Meyer, S. (2013). Teen Ink: Bullying under attack : True stories written by teen victims, bullies & bystanders. HCI Teens.

Rowell, R. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Stop Bullying. (n.d.).Website. Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov

Virginia Department of Education. (2012). Grade 9 English Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english9.pdf

Virginia Department of Education. (2012). Grade 9 health Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/health/index.shtml

Virginia Department of Education. (2012). Grade 10 English Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english10.pdf

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass trailer 1 - Medium.m4v. (2012). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlzd_nQvEHQ