Review Detail

What worked: I love books in verse. They Call Me Güero introduces readers to Güero, a light skinned twelve-year-old Mexican American boy. He navigates seventh grade and his life with poetry.

There's so much to love about this novel. This generation's Gary Soto. Only this novel shows a young boy who straddles both sides of the border. Moving and powerful writing is shown with it's portrayal of Güero's love of his family; nerdy friends; his culture; and the tough, but sweet Fregona. There's also a poem about the loss of a beloved pet and how he stood up to the school bully through poetry. And finally, one huge strength of this novel has to be Güero's great love of his father and the sadness he feels for a friend whose father left him.

One poem that really stood out to me had to be this one:

'Yo bullies; lero, lero
I'm the mero Güero
a real cachuatero,
peanuts and chile
all up in this cuero,
this piel, this skin-
it's white, that's true
but I'm just as Mexican
as you and you and you.'

I love how this authentic depiction of a young Mexican-American boy's life is shown through the power of verse. At the back of the book is a glossary with the translated Spanish, though most readers will be able to understand the words by the way the poetry is written.

Beautifully written, powerful story of a young Mexican-American boy told in verse as he navigates seventh grade and his life. Highly recommend to fans of Latinx books and to those who love diversity in novels.