History Literature / YaquiDelgadoWantsToKickYourAss

* AlphaBitch: Yaqui, to a T.

* DeathGlare: Yaqui throws plenty of these in Piddy's direction.

* {{Hypocrite}}: {{Deconstructed}}. Piddy's mother Clara frequently [[SlutShaming slut-shames]] the loitering barrio girls (calling them ''chusmas''), and warns Piddy not to become one of them. Later it is revealed that [[spoiler: she had an affair with Piddy's father, who was already married. However this is downplayed by the fact that Augustin did not tell her that he was married.]]

* InternalizedCategorism: Clara is a subtle example, as she looks down on the younger Latina girls hanging around the neighbourhood, refuses to associate with Lila's majority-Latina clientele from the salon, and refers to Caribbean artists as "high on cocaine", insisting that Piddy listen to Bach instead. [[spoiler: Of course, she associates these with the trauma of having been in an extra-marital affair with Piddy's Dominican father.]]

* MeaningfulName: The protagonist's nickname, Piddy, is pronounced like "pity", and appropriately so as she becomes a pitiful character given all the shit she goes through at the hands of the school bully. Her full name, Piedad, is this to a lesser extent. "Piedad" is Spanish for "piety", which is a Catholic virtue that emphasizes devotion and homage. Although Piddy isn't shown to be religious, she is dutiful to her mother (with some exceptions).

It tells the story about sixteen-year-old Latina high school student, Piedad "Piddy" Sanchez, who is new to her school. One morning on her first day, Piddy is told in no uncertain terms by a girl that "Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass". Piddy wonders how she could've drawn the wrath of a girl she has never met. Word flies around that Yaqui thinks Paddy is stuck up, shakes her ass too much, is not "Latina enough" for her light skin, and that she is somehow after the latter's boyfriend (whom Paddy has also never met).

Pretty soon, Yaqui makes good on her threats as she and her gang physically torment Paddy, going as far as tracking her down at her weekend job at a hair salon. She is quickly frightened for her life, resulting in her grades dropping and ultimately missing school altogether. Through her misery she finds some solace in a boy named Joey, who's mother is the victim of perpetual domestic abuse. Meanwhile, Paddy is on the search for her deadbeat Dominican father.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Because of the harrassment he gets for being gay, Rob prefers to keep to himself. That is, until Piddy covers up a homophobic slur that had been scribbled on his locker, after which [[spoiler: he quietly protects her from the background by removing an essay that she obviously based off of Yacqui. He ultimately reports Yaqui's videotaped assault against Piddy. At the end he hands her an application for [=McCleary=] school.]]
* ButNotTooBlack: One of Yaqui's alleged reasons for hating Piddy is because of the latter's light skin, deeming her not "Latina enough". Her messenger girl Vanesa criticises Paddy for shaking her "tight white ass".

* SlutShaming: Yaqui had apparently called Piddy a skank for seemingly no reason, and later has her gang call out Piddy for "shaking her ass too much", convinced that the latter was trying to steal her boyfriend.

* AdultsAreUseless: The grownups at school take their sweet time to figure out that something is wrong with Paddy. Ultimately {{Downplayed}} as they do ask her what's wrong, but Paddy refuses to tell them at first.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Because of the harrassment he gets for being gay, Rob prefers to keep to himself. That is, until Paddy covers up a homophobic slur that had been scribbled on his locker, after which [[spoiler: he quietly protects her from the background by removing an essay that she obviously based off of Yacqui. He ultimately reports Yaqui's videotaped assault against Paddy. At the end he hands her an application for [=McCleary=] school.]]
* ButNotTooBlack: One of Yaqui's alleged reasons for hating Paddy is because of the latter's light skin, deeming her not "Latina enough". Her messenger girl Vanesa criticises Paddy for shaking her "tight white ass".
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Paddy's bullying ultimately reaches the principal, who plans to expel Yaqui after watching the beating-up video. Unfortunately, he cannot expel Yaqui's gang, and advises Paddy to transfer schools. She does just that, but now carries PTSD from her violent experiences at Yaqui's hands. She also discovers the her missing father had an affair with her mother while being married to another woman, and has no intention on ever reaching out to his secret family. On the bright side, Paddy returns to her old high school, reunites with Mitzi, and is eventually accepted into [=McCleary=].]]
* CategoryTraitor: Paddy gets a lot of flack from Yaqui and her gang for not being a stereotypical Latina: she's light skinned, speaks without an accent, is in honors classes, and is a bit of a loner.

* GreenEyedMonster: Yaqui firmly believes Paddy is after her boyfriend, and sics her girl gang on her.
* {{Hypocrite}}: {{Deconstructed}}. Paddy's mother Clara frequently [[SlutShaming slut-shames]] the loitering barrio girls (calling them ''chusmas''), and warns Paddy not to become one of them. Later it is revealed that [[spoiler: she had an affair with Paddy's father, who was already married. However this is downplayed by the fact that Augustin did not tell her that he was married.]]

* TokenWhite: Joey is the only white supporting character.

* NomDeMom: Averted. Piddy uses her father, Augustin Sanchez's last name despite him being completely absent. She believes that Clara, after having given birth to her, felt pressured to write the father's name on Piddy's birth certificate instead of claiming ignorance so the doctors won't write her off as a promiscuous woman who couldn't be bothered to remember the men she slept with.[[note]] Oddly enough, Piddy (and other Latino characters in the book) only use their paternal last name instead of the usual Spanish naming convention, whereby children take both parents' last names [[/note]]

* DisappearedDad: Piddy's father, Augustin, left the house before her birth, but Clara has zero interest in discussing him. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that Clara was Augustin's fiancee, but became suspicious when he would take extended leaves of absence to Santo Domingo to "visit his mother". One day, a Dominican woman shows up to Salon Corazon to confront Clara, explaining that he already has a wife back in the Dominican Republic. After having his infidelity discovered, Augustin ceases contact with Clara. Having learned all this, Piddy accepts the fact that her father likely has zero interest in reaching out to her, and stop her search for him.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: When Piddy shows up to school early to find out more about Yaqui, her alleged hater, she gets catcalled by two Latino guys for her walking form. One of them happens to be Alfredo, Yaqui's boyfriend. Word of this encounter reaches Yaqui, which lands Piddy in bigger heat when the former assumes she was trying to seduce Alfredo.

* NotSoDifferent: Piddy feels a longing sense of comradery with Yaqui on account of their shared Latina heritage, secretly wishing that she and her could've been tight-knit friends instead of enemies.

* ButNotTooBlack: One of Yaqui's alleged reasons for hating Paddy is because of the latter's light skin, deeming her not "Latina enough".
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Paddy's bullying ultimately reaches the principal, who plans to expel Yaqui after watching the beating-up video. Unfortunately, he cannot expel Yaqui's gang, and advises Paddy to transfer schools. She does just that, but now carries PTSD from her violent experiences at Yaqui's hands. She also discovers the her missing father had an affair with her mother while being married to another woman, and has no intention on ever reaching out to his either her or Clara. On the bright side, Paddy returns to her old high school, reunites with Mitzi, and is eventually accepted into [=McCleary=].]]
* CategoryTraitor: Paddy gets a lot of flack from Yaqui and her gang for not being a stereotypical Latina: she's light skinned, is in honors classes, and is a bit of a loner.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Because of the harrassment he gets for being gay, Rob prefers to keep to himself. That is, until Paddy covers up a homophobic slur that had been scribbled on his locker, after which [[spoiler: he quietly protects her from the background by removing an essay that she obviously based off of Yacqui. He ultimately reports Yaqui's videotaped assault against Paddy. At the end he hands her an application for McCleary school.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Paddy's bullying ultimately reaches the principal, who plans to expel Yaqui after watching the beating-up video. Unfortunately, he cannot expel Yaqui's gang, and advises Paddy to transfer schools. She does just that, but now carries PTSD from her violent experiences at Yaqui's hands. She also discovers the her missing father had an affair with her mother while married to another woman, and has no intention on ever reaching out to her. On the bright side, Paddy returns to her old high school, reuniting with Mitzi, and is eventually accepted into McCleary.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Paddy's bullying ultimately reaches the principal, who plans to expel Yaqui after watching the beating-up video. Unfortunately, he cannot expel Yaqui's gang, and advises Paddy to transfer schools. She does just that, but now carries PTSD from her violent experiences at Yaqui's hands. On the bright side, Paddy returns to her old high school, reuniting with Mitzi, and is eventually accepted into McCleary.]]

* TokenMinority: Darlene tries to convince Piddy to take AP courses at a science pre-secondary school, claiming that she "has the Latina advantage".

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Paddy's bullying ultimately reaches the principal, who plans to expel Yaqui after watching the beating-up video. Unfortunately, he cannot expel Yaqui's gang, and advises Paddy to transfer schools. She does just that, but now carries PTSD from her violent experiences at Yaqui's hands. On the bright side, Paddy returns to her old high school, reuniting with Mitzi, and is accepted into McCleary.]]

* InnerCitySchool: Daniel Jones High School is one of these, being spray-painted with graffiti, sporting a majority-minority demographic (primarily Latinos, African-Americans, and Asians), and located in Queens.

* LatinoIsBrown: Despite being half-Cuban, half-Dominican, Paddy is light skinned, which gets her Latina identity questioned by Yaqui. Since Yaqui is the one causing a scene over this, it can be presumed that ''she'' has the typical "Latina look".
* NomDeMom: Averted. Piddy uses her father, Augustin Sanchez's last name despite him being completely absent. She believes that Clara, after having given birth to her, felt pressured to write the father's name on Piddy's birth certificate instead of claiming ignorance so the doctors won't write her off as a promiscuous woman who couldn't be bothered to remember the men she slept with.

* {{Hypocrite}}: {{Deconstructed}}. Paddy's mother Clara frequently {{SlutShaming slut-shames}} the loitering barrio girls (calling them ''chusmas''), and warns Paddy not to become one of them. Later it is revealed that [[spoiler: she had an affair with Paddy's father, who was already married. However this is downplayed by the fact that Augustin did not tell her that he was married.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[[spoiler: Paddy's bullying ultimately reaches the principal, who plans to expel Yaqui after watching the beating-up video. Unfortunately, he cannot expel Yaqui's gang, and advises Paddy to transfer schools. She does just that, but now carries PTSD from her violent experiences at Yaqui's hands. On the bright side, Paddy returns to her old high school, reuniting with Mitzi, and is accepted into McCleary.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Paddy's bullying ultimately reaches the principal, who plans to expel Yaqui after watching the beating-up video. Unfortunately, he states that he cannot expel Yaqui's gang, and advises Paddy to transfer schools. She does just that, but now carries PTSD from her violent experiences at Yaqui's hands.

* LatinoIsBrown: Despite being half-Cuban, half-Dominican, Paddy is light skinned, which gets her Latina identity questioned by Yaqui. Since Yaqui is the one causing a scene over this, it can be presumed that she has the typical "Latina look".

* LatinoIsBrown: Despite being half-Cuban, half-Dominican, Paddy is light skinned, which gets her Latina identity questioned by Yaqui. Since Yaqui is the one causing a scene over this, it can be presumed that she has the typical "Latina look".

* GreenEyedMonster: Yaqui firmly believes Paddy is after her boyfriend, and sics her girl gang on her.