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Dark Dude - Oscar Hijuelos

By Oscar Hijuelos

Release Date: 2009-03-12

Genre: Fiction for Young Adults

5 (9 ratings)
Read Download
From Pulitzer Prizeā€“winning author Oscar Hijuelos comes a ā€œfrank, gritty, vibrant, and wholly absorbingā€ (Booklist, starred review) young adult novel set in the late 1960s about a haunting choice and an unforgettable journey of identity, mis-identity, and all that we take with us when we run away. Now with a stunning new look!

He didnā€™t say good-bye. He didnā€™t leave a phone number. And he didnā€™t plan on coming backā€”ever.

Fifteen-year-old Rico Fuentes has had enough of life in Harlem, where his fair complexionā€”inherited from an Irish grandfatherā€”keeps him caught between two cultures without belonging to either. He pours his outsider feelings into a comic book Dark Dude, with his friend Jimmy illustrating. But when Gilberto, whoā€™s always looked out for Rico, moves to Wisconsin and Jimmy loses himself to an insidious habit, Rico decides enough is enough.

With Jimmy in tow, Rico runs away to the Midwest in search of Gilberto. The heavily white community feels worlds away from Harlem, and for the first time, Rico sees what itā€™s like to blend inā€”no longer the ā€œdark dudeā€ or the punching bag for the whole neighborhood. But the less energy Rico needs to put into proving heā€™s Latino, the less he feels like one. And the more he gets to know the people around him, the more itā€™s clear that a change in location doesnā€™t change human natureā€”and that thereā€™s no such thing as a perfect community.

Faced with the truth that there are things that canā€™t be cut loose or forgotten, things that keep him from ever having an ordinary white kidā€™s life, Rico must decide whether he can make a home in the place he ran toā€¦or the one he ran from.

Dark Dude - Oscar Hijuelos

By Oscar Hijuelos

Release Date: 2009-03-12

Genre: Fiction for Young Adults

5 (9 ratings)
Read Download
From Pulitzer Prizeā€“winning author Oscar Hijuelos comes a ā€œfrank, gritty, vibrant, and wholly absorbingā€ (Booklist, starred review) young adult novel set in the late 1960s about a haunting choice and an unforgettable journey of identity, mis-identity, and all that we take with us when we run away. Now with a stunning new look!

He didnā€™t say good-bye. He didnā€™t leave a phone number. And he didnā€™t plan on coming backā€”ever.

Fifteen-year-old Rico Fuentes has had enough of life in Harlem, where his fair complexionā€”inherited from an Irish grandfatherā€”keeps him caught between two cultures without belonging to either. He pours his outsider feelings into a comic book Dark Dude, with his friend Jimmy illustrating. But when Gilberto, whoā€™s always looked out for Rico, moves to Wisconsin and Jimmy loses himself to an insidious habit, Rico decides enough is enough.

With Jimmy in tow, Rico runs away to the Midwest in search of Gilberto. The heavily white community feels worlds away from Harlem, and for the first time, Rico sees what itā€™s like to blend inā€”no longer the ā€œdark dudeā€ or the punching bag for the whole neighborhood. But the less energy Rico needs to put into proving heā€™s Latino, the less he feels like one. And the more he gets to know the people around him, the more itā€™s clear that a change in location doesnā€™t change human natureā€”and that thereā€™s no such thing as a perfect community.

Faced with the truth that there are things that canā€™t be cut loose or forgotten, things that keep him from ever having an ordinary white kidā€™s life, Rico must decide whether he can make a home in the place he ran toā€¦or the one he ran from.

More by Oscar Hijuelos

Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise

Dark Dude

Beautiful Maria of My Soul

Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

Mr. Ives' Christmas

The Business of Writing

The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien

Our House in the Last World

A Simple Habana Melody

A Writing Marriage

Kaunis MarĆ­a

Empress of the Splendid Season

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