Wanted

Wanted is a book completely different from anything I’ve read before. It’s as if Bonnie and Clyde got fed up with anti-Hispanic racism, developed a Robin Hood complex, and were transformed into high school students. Heidi Ayarbe tackled a lot of tough subjects in this book, some of which I wasn’t expecting. As per usual, the jacket blurb completely forgot to mention the most important part: Michal is Hispanic, and there’s a white supremacist gang called Garbage Disposal that’s attempting to “take care” of the “spic” problem.

Anyway. Michal is a bookie, she meets Josh, things are cool. Then there’s a whole string of gang-violence and general racism that rocks her world, resulting in the death of a family friend, who happens to be an illegal aliens. She and Josh steal money to pay for the friend’s funeral, and then they keep doing it, stealing from elitist white families to anonymously donate to organizations like Planned Parenthood, free clinics, soup kitchens, etc. Except they get caught and, in a very cinematic ending, Michal finds meaning to her life.

As a character, I thought Michal was realistic and well-rounded, but I didn’t necessarily find that I was invested in her story. She made a lot of really bad choices, and even though she had the best of intentions, I often wanted to shake her or do something to make her see that she wasn’t doing what was best for herself. And, maybe, she lacked a little bit of depth. Certainly, I think all of the secondary characters were fairly shallow.

An interesting thing about Wanted is the way the story unfolded. The first half deals mainly with Michal being a bookie and the racial tensions that are present everywhere she goes. Then, in the second half, Ayarbe focuses more on Michal’s Bonnie/Clyde relationship with Josh and their Robin Hood vigilantism. Once again, outwardly, I really liked this book’s plot, but I failed to make an emotional investment with it.

I feel like this had potential to be more. Maybe Heidi Ayarbe attempted to push too many hot-button topics. Abortion, racial identity, gang warfare, racism, elitism, feminism—lots of -isms. The nice thing, though, was that all those issues were spread out over the course of the text. This is a fairly long book for a YA contemporary, so there was room for me to breathe throughout it all. And I never felt that the author was preaching at me.

I liked Wanted a lot—it has all sorts of elements that I enjoy. (I know it doesn’t seem that I liked this book! I did, I promise.) Yet at the same time, it was lacking that indefinable something that separates a good book from a great one. Whether it was Ayarbe’s prose, her characters, or her plotting, I’m not sure. But something was missing.

Let me start by saying that Wanted turned out to be so different from everything else that I've read this year, that I was simply blown away from the start. As soon as I was introduced to Michal, a young girl turned bookie, there was no turning back. I'm not very familiar with the betting world, but Ayarbe makes it easy to understand the life that Michal has placed herself in. Her honest voice sucked me in, and her inability to see how important she was kept me coming back for more. I was rooting for her.

I'll admit that I personally connected with Michal instantly. For me, it was based on the fact that both she and I are stuck in the middle of two very different worlds. For Michal, her Mexican heritage is something that was stripped away from her long ago. I won't spoil anything, but this makes things very interesting for her during her high school life. Ayarbe tackles some ideas in this book that will be sure to make some readers squirm a bit. Illegal immigrants, unfair health care, gang violence and so much more are all addressed in black and white.

However there is so much more in Wanted than just messages about equality and humanity. At its core, this is a story about looking for the purpose in your life. Michal, Josh, all the students at the high school, are just trapped in the roles that society has set out for them. Stereotypes and labels hold them in one spot, unable to find their true potential. There are characters in this story that you just can't help cheering for. Despite how messed up they might seem, or the choices they make, you know there is some good under that tough exterior.

Wanted has a last chapter that tore my heart out. I'll warn you now. However the ending was so perfect that it is still hard for me to wrap my mind around. I guarantee you'll be thinking about this book well past finishing it. If you are a fan of Heidi Ayarbe's books, this is one you won't want to miss. If you're just entering her world of fantastic writing, welcome. Wanted is great place to start.