111 pages • 3 hours read
Matt de la PeñaMexican WhiteBoy
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 28-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 28 Summary: “The Last Hustle of the Summer”
Danny and Uno take the Coaster, the train that runs along the coast between San Diego and Los Angeles, to Leucadia. Uno tells Danny, “I’m bringin’ shit full circle on you, D” (225). It isn’t until the two are on the platform that Danny recognizes he is in Leucadia. He suddenly realizes this isn’t just any hustle. Danny feels immediately comforted by the familiarity but takes notice of how socioeconomically different things are in Leucadia. Danny and Uno make their way to Leucadia Prep, where practice is wrapping up. Kyle Sorenson is there, helping Coach Sullivan. Danny asks Uno how he knew Kyle would be there, but Uno just says he has his sources. Danny is oddly calm: “Maybe it’s taken real life getting so real for him to realize baseball’s just a game” (227). Uno comments, “Sick school, everything’s brand-new, man. Check out that field” (227). Danny tries to see his high school field from Uno’s perspective, “and what he sees is almost embarrassing. It’s too beautiful” (228).
Uno approaches and propositions the team’s catcher. At first, he doesn’t have any idea what Uno means by “challenge,” but the coach does. Coach Sullivan dismisses himself to the bleachers, saying he’ll pretend he didn’t hear that. The Leucadia boys, Marcus and Joe, can’t believe what Uno is asking, thinking there’s no way Danny would ever want to challenge Kyle. Marcus asks Danny directly and Danny says he does. Barker, a third Leucadia player, interjects several racial insults toward Uno and Danny. Kyle acts like he doesn’t remember Danny, though he clearly does. Barker refers to Danny as a “wetback” (230), and Uno says, “Careful, money. I can’t have nobody disrespectin’ my boy’s nationality like that”(230). To Kyle, Uno says, “I don’t care how much signing bonus you ‘bout to get, I got forty bones says my boy D could strike your ass out” (230). Kyle smiles and agrees to the bet. Danny knows something inside him has changed, as he is calm and fearless. Barker tells Uno to“[g]et ready to lose your life savings” (231).
The hustle commences, and Danny throws an impeccable fast ball. Kyle doesn’t move. He just watches it. Danny is calm, though he’s throwing a little wild. Uno tells him to remember the train. Kyle makes contact with the next pitch and fouls the ball. On the next pitch, he swings late and misses the ball, the power of his swing nearly knocking him to the ground. Danny has two strikes against Kyle, but he knows that’s when Kyle is at his best. Uno shouts, “one more!” (233), and the guys on the fence become respectfully silent of Danny.
Danny remembers the power of the train and what Uno has said to him about it not being about him anymore: “It’s about something bigger. His talent” (233). Danny delivers the best, fastest pitch he’s thrown all summer and “[a]s the pitch rips through the warm air Danny is alive. Awake. Capable. He feels” (234). Kyle’s swing is behind the ball, but he makes contact and again fouls. Danny is happy in the moment. He’s had experiences that have given him perspective, and baseball is fun: “This makes sense. This is what he loves” (234).
Danny now has Coach Sullivan’s attention. Kyle continues just barely getting a piece of every pitch, enough to stay alive and in the game. Uno reminds Danny that he’s already won, that “this last strike be gravy”(235). Danny sends his very best fastball and, this time, Kyle makes solid contact, hitting the ball to the outfield. Danny has lost. Uno immediately goes double or nothing. Kyle, almost feeling bad, takes the challenge and nods for Coach Sullivan to retake his seat. Danny pitches and this time Kyle knocks the ball out of the park: “A home run. But not just a home run. Not just a lost bet or a failed hustle. An answer”(238). The Leucadia players are ecstatic. Barker gets the money from Uno’s hat, gives it to Kyle and throws it back in the dirt, saying to Uno, “Now get your black ass outta here” (238). Barker continues taunting Uno while the Leucadia guys hold him back. Meanwhile, Marcus, Leucadia’s catcher, has picked up Uno’s cap and is brushing it off to give back to Uno. Barker continues making slurs and spits in the direction of Uno. Danny, thinking nothing of it, runs up to Barker and punches him in the face, eventually knocking him to the ground. The Leucadia guys grab Danny and pull him off Barker. The coach comes running and Danny feels someone shoving the Leucadia guys off him. He is surprised to find it is Kyle, who tells him to head on home and that the coach will call him. Kyle tells the others to release Uno, and then he says to Danny again, “You got great stuff, man. I’m serious. Coach’ll call you” (239).
Chapter 29 Summary: “Stripping Tile and Slinging Tar”
Uncle Tommy and Cecilia leave for the evening so the kids can celebrate Danny’s last night. Uno and Liberty join Sofia and Danny, and over a dinner of chicken enchiladas, Uno recounts Danny’s heroism at Leucadia, noting how “D gots [his] back” (240). Sofia half-jokingly says, “So, now you’re a fighter, cuz? Mr. Tough Guy like Uncle Ray?” (241). Danny says he is not like Uncle Ray. Sofia feels bad and says that’s not how she meant it, but Danny is trying to convey something else, that he is his own person. He says, “I’m like me…I’m just myself. That’s it” (241). Conversation moves to the future and Liberty shares her fears about being placed in all-English classrooms. Uno tells everyone how when he told his dad he didn’t have the whole $500, his dad said, “I got a roof that need new tile…Gonna have you up there strippin’ tile and slingin’ tar. Sunup to sundown. Twenty-four seven. You ready for some hard work, boy?’” (242). Senior will see to it Uno has no time for anything but a fresh start.
Sofia surprises Danny with the news that she’ll be living with him in Leucadia for the first semester of her senior year. She won’t be attending “that fancy private school” (242); she’ll go to public school with Julia, and Wendy is going to discuss junior-college options. Everyone is excited and they toast to Sofia’s future. Uno finds a Polaroid camera and snaps pictures of the night, including one of Danny and Liberty. Uno announces he and Danny have to leave: “They’ve got one more spot to make tonight…it’s a man thang” (243). Uno says goodbye to Liberty and kisses Sofia, and Danny says his goodbyes, too. As he walks out the door, Liberty yells for Danny to wait. She runs outside and kisses him. He looks at her and then he in turn kisses her. Uno and Sofia, both shocked by Danny’s actions, make eye contact and smile. Then Danny and Uno leave in the direction of the train tracks.
Chapter 30 Summary: “A New Light on the Recycling Plant”
Uno takes Danny back to the train tracks and they play the Karma game which, if an accurate predictor, will tell the boys their future. Uno tells Danny he has located his father and done the necessary research to get Danny over to visit him before his mom comes to pick him up: “This is everything he’s wanted over the past few years. But does he want it anymore?” (246) Just learning about his dad has made him feel he can be okay without him. Danny and Uno decide to stay overnight at the tracks. They talk about their futures and enjoy one last night in National City. Danny reflects on the digging he used to do in his arm and is in disbelief he was in that much pain. He is so content “right where he is. Sitting on the train tracks. With his best friend. Watching a sunrise” (247).
Chapters 28-30 Analysis
Danny feels alive and capable and has returned to being the player he once was. Knowing the reality of his father has allowed him to move forward, and he has been able to overcome his inability to control his pitching and no longer needs to cut himself to feel alive. He has emerged from this dark place as a new person, one who has hope, agency, a bright future.
Early in Mexican WhiteBoy, Leucadia Prep is described as it seen through Danny’s eyes: a school full of rich white kids. Barker’s racial slurs and other unkind comments make it seem as though the school will be further characterized as elitist and white and not appropriately redeemed. However, when Kyle steps in for Danny and the other players decline to echo Barker or his sentiments, it becomes clear Barker is but one bad apple, the exception to the rule.
Kyle commands the others to release Uno and, with sincere admiration, tells Danny, “You got great stuff, man. I’m serious. Coach’ll call you” (239).Kyle has gone from being Danny’s nemesis to the supporter and baseball role model Danny needs. Up until now, Danny has had no one in whom he could see himself. Even though Danny has family, his experience has deviated from and surpassed theirs. He is academically and athletically gifted beyond any of the Lopezes, and while he loves and respects them, he can’t look to them for direction or see in them what his life will be like. His future will look more like Kyle’s than any of his uncles’. Kyle’s words give Danny the validation he’s been looking for. Kyle does not come from a place of scarcity. He is impressed with Danny’s abilities, but he is not threatened by Danny. Kyle is privileged but he knows there is enough room for another talented player on team and that having more talent benefits the team overall.
Uno, whose role at the outset was that of Danny’s antagonist and tormentor, has become his unlikely best friend. Uno is no longer competitive or jealous of Danny. He believes in him and supports him. Uno has shown compassion to Manny and now to Danny; he understands what Danny needs, and that is to see his father. Uno arranges a visit for Danny and when Danny imagines seeing his father, he runs his fingers along his scars, the literal damage done as result of his father’s behavior and the silence surrounding it. Danny has reconciled, at least momentarily, his relationship with his father. Now that he knows the truth, he is able to see all the good around him: his friendship with Uno, his family, and his future.
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