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51st out of 86 books
—
213 voters
Dark Dude
He didn't say good-bye. He didn't leave a phone number. And he didn't plan on coming back - ever.
In Wisconsin, Rico could blend in. His light hair and lighter skin wouldn't make him the "dark dude" or the punching bag for the whole neighborhood. The Midwest is the land of milk and honey, but for Rico Fuentes, it's really a last resort. Trading Harlem for Wisconsin, though...more
In Wisconsin, Rico could blend in. His light hair and lighter skin wouldn't make him the "dark dude" or the punching bag for the whole neighborhood. The Midwest is the land of milk and honey, but for Rico Fuentes, it's really a last resort. Trading Harlem for Wisconsin, though...more
Hardcover, 439 pages
Published
September 16th 2008
by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
(first published August 29th 2008)
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Oct 25, 2011
El Templo de las Mil Puertas
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review of another edition
Shelves:
15-eltemplo,
reportero-recomienda
"Un cubano rubio, de piel blanca y con pecas. Así es Rico Fuentes, de padres cubanos, de procedencia modesta y oscuros de tez. Su hermana es mulata pero él tiene unos rasgos que le acercan más a los blancos (por un antepasado irlandés) que a los negros. Por ello, sufre un acoso permanente de quienes lo consideran un dark dude, expresión despectiva que, como el autor explica al comienzo del libro, designa a un latino de piel tan clara que parece casi un whitey o un pinky, términos que usan para d...more
Adolescence is tough--you want to be an individual, to find out who you are, to be seen as special and unique, but you also don't want to be too different, to be noticed and hassled--you want to fit in. Your fellow teenagers can be very hard on both themselves and each other. And groups have their own sometimes menacing lives.
Well OK--adults may not admit it, but it's often like that for us too--but somehow it's more intense for an adolescent, especially in the forced and self-contained environm...more
Well OK--adults may not admit it, but it's often like that for us too--but somehow it's more intense for an adolescent, especially in the forced and self-contained environm...more
I literally could not put this book down. I had homework, I could practice piano, I could eat lunch--but I didn't care. This book was that good.
Rico is growing up in the mid-to-late 20th century. He lives with his parents and sister in either Harlem or the Upper West Side (it isn't specific). The thing about Rico is he doesn't look like the rest of his family. He's Cuban-Irish, but he looks really really really Irish. And the rest of his family looks really really really cuban. In that time in...more
Rico is growing up in the mid-to-late 20th century. He lives with his parents and sister in either Harlem or the Upper West Side (it isn't specific). The thing about Rico is he doesn't look like the rest of his family. He's Cuban-Irish, but he looks really really really Irish. And the rest of his family looks really really really cuban. In that time in...more
This book might actually get only 2.5 stars from me. It's written for teens by an adult author. He adjusts a lot of the language and situations to make it teen appropriate, but it is way too long and the plot just kind of drags. This book will not hold a reluctant reader, even though the characters and setting seem to be aimed toward them. It is an interesting look about growing up with lighter skin than the rest of your Cuban family, to the point where people, including your parents, treat you...more
Rico Fuentes is a second generation Cuban American living in Harlem during the hippie times. Rico looks very white and sticks out in his neighborhood. He gets jumped by blacks and Latinos. Gilberto looks out for Rico. Gilberto is like an older brother and father figure. Gilberto wins the lottery and moves to Wisconsin for college. Rico and his junkie friend, Jimmy, are fed up with New York and hitchhike to the Midwest. Rico is a fan of Mark Twain's Huck Finn and is excited to start his adventure...more
3.5 stars
This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.
When I was in year eight I had an English teacher who would have us write essays in class, and would then commend students who could hand in a piece of work free of spelling mistakes. I will never forget the time he held up an error-free essay, then looked the student in the eye and said, "but it's not as though you took any risks, is it?"
Our teacher would have preferred our work to be peppered with mistakes so long as it m...more
This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.
When I was in year eight I had an English teacher who would have us write essays in class, and would then commend students who could hand in a piece of work free of spelling mistakes. I will never forget the time he held up an error-free essay, then looked the student in the eye and said, "but it's not as though you took any risks, is it?"
Our teacher would have preferred our work to be peppered with mistakes so long as it m...more
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Oscar Hijuelos maintains his reputation with this lovely coming-of-age tale of a Cuban-American 16-year-old who drops out of school and escapes the mean streets, hopeless educational institutions, and a stifling (if loving) family in late 1960’s Harlem and seeks sanctuary on a friend’s farm in rural Wisconsin.
Teenager Rico Fuentes, our smart and hopeful narrator, is getting hassled from every angle. The son of dark-skinned Cuban immigrants, Rico’s light skin, ligh...more
Teenager Rico Fuentes, our smart and hopeful narrator, is getting hassled from every angle. The son of dark-skinned Cuban immigrants, Rico’s light skin, ligh...more
This book really wasn't for me. Although the plot was good, it dragged on and and on. Not only that, but the characters weren't developed very well. Only Rico, the main character, was developed.
This book takes place in the Bronx. I didn't realize that it was supposed to take place in the 1970's until after I read some reviews. I noticed the language was a little off to take place near our millienum, but the language of 70's was used so sparsely, that it really didn't take place. Even the charac...more
This book takes place in the Bronx. I didn't realize that it was supposed to take place in the 1970's until after I read some reviews. I noticed the language was a little off to take place near our millienum, but the language of 70's was used so sparsely, that it really didn't take place. Even the charac...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I can really only give this a 5 on the Peach-worthiness scale. It was a fairly enjoyable portrayal, in the slice of life sense, of a light skinned Cuban-American boy named Rico, living in Harlem and then later a small town in Wisconsin. But that's really all that happens, fairly uneventful late 1960s trials and tribulations of a boy that doesn't fit in, is fed up with school, and hates to see his best friend turning into a junkie. When his folks are ready to send him to his uncle in Florida and...more
Dark Dude is about a person named Rico who lives in the Bronx in NYC. He is in a Bronx high school and he is being bullied a lot. The main character is Rico and the setting is from Bronx to Wisconsin. Rico's main internal conflict is him being grounded by his parents. His main external conflict is him being bullied by other people. After these conflicts Rico moves to Wisconsin to find his best friend Gilberto.
In the book I made a text-to-world connection. In the book, Rico does a lot of drugs an...more
In the book I made a text-to-world connection. In the book, Rico does a lot of drugs an...more
Unable to deal with the pressure of living in Harlem, the frequent jumpings by just about everyone in his neighborhood because he’s a light-skinned Latino, Rico Fuentes leaves for Wisconsin. Rico can blend in the Midwestern farm country with his light skin so well he’s generally mistaken for a white. It’s just what he needs, and the longer he stays on his friend’s farm, the more he thinks he’ll never go back to New York. But appearances aren’t everything, and even if Rico is mostly enjoying his...more
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 (for THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE), Hijuelos writes a young adult novel in the style of Alexie's ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN.
In DARK DUDE, the main character is (like Hijeulos) a Cuban-American who grows up in Harlem in the late '60s. Like Hijuelos, the protagonist Rico is fair-skinned. This makes him the object of ridicule from Latinos and Blacks as well as Whites. Eventually it's family strife, however, that drives him to run away to a...more
In DARK DUDE, the main character is (like Hijeulos) a Cuban-American who grows up in Harlem in the late '60s. Like Hijuelos, the protagonist Rico is fair-skinned. This makes him the object of ridicule from Latinos and Blacks as well as Whites. Eventually it's family strife, however, that drives him to run away to a...more
Rico Fuentes is a Cubano, but he's very light skinned and is often taken to be white. This causes no end of problems, particularly at his high school where whites are a tiny minority in the student body, and the black and hispanic kids run with their own crowds.
When things take a turn for the worse at school, he convinces his best friend, Jimmy, to give up heroin and run away to join an older pal who has gone to college in Wisconsin, everyone takes him for white. The contrast between his urban...more
When things take a turn for the worse at school, he convinces his best friend, Jimmy, to give up heroin and run away to join an older pal who has gone to college in Wisconsin, everyone takes him for white. The contrast between his urban...more
Dark Dude has such a great cast of characters. They all have their problems, but it is Gilberto and Rico, who takes Jimmy with him too that decide to leave their lives in Harlen and strike out for a better life in Wisconsin. Rico is a light Cuban American and this causes him so many problems; he is bullied becdue to his light skin, family tensions with his moms' constant hassles, a father who drinks too much and can't make enough money to support his family and a rundown, violent school. Gilbert...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I will like to say that Oscar Hijuelos did a good job in creating a book that make the charters seem realistic and relative-bl. The protagonist of the story is Rico. Rico was born in The United States but his parents are Cuban making him a Hispanic. I'm also Hispanic because i was born in California and my parents are from Mexico. Rico grew up in New York and I grew up in Oakland two cities that have a high crime rate. The settings of the book takes place in New York and then Rico runs away to W...more
Feb 11, 2009
Carrie
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Shelves:
z-2009,
family-problems,
fathers-and-sons,
outcasts,
racism-and-prejudice,
latino,
y-fiction
Rico is too white to be Cuban, but too Cuban to be white. After his friend wins the lottery and moves to Wisconsin to attend college, Rico decides to escape his alcoholic father and overbearing mother and make an easier new life for himself among people who look like him.
Since it’s set in the 1960s, Rico becomes part of a long-haired, pot-smoking, guitar playing college culture that might have been accurate for the time, but came across as kind of odd in present day. Other than the hippie commu...more
Since it’s set in the 1960s, Rico becomes part of a long-haired, pot-smoking, guitar playing college culture that might have been accurate for the time, but came across as kind of odd in present day. Other than the hippie commu...more
Meh. Red flags should come up all over the place when author Hijuelos says he wishes this were a book he had read when he was a teen. That's a problem because A) it's pompous and self-serving to admit, and B) this book kinda sucks, which doesn't say much for his taste. Set in the late 60's, Rico is a light-skinned Cuban who has all kinds of problems in New York City, what with his parents and drugs and his drug-addicted friends and violence and blah blah blah, so he moves to a farm in Wisconsin...more
what i thought about this book was i can relate to it in a way. the book really makes you understand and feel the life that some kids go threw. this book opens your eyes that not everyone has a good family and that some people really struggle.i recommend this book to people who can honestly say they havent had a hard life so they can maybe understand more people who arent as fortunate as them. also so they can appreciate even more what they have.
i rate this book 4 stars because i can relate to...more
i rate this book 4 stars because i can relate to...more
Oscar Hijuelo's Dark Dude has a similar story line and plot to Sherman Alexie's, Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, but lacks the humor and poignancy of Alexie's book. While Alexie's protagonist and main characters are memorable and thoroughly engaging; Hijuelo's characters lack that certain punch and passion. Yet this is a worthwhile book to read; enjoyable in it's own right. Rico, who is Cuban, becomes weary of life in the Bronx and the poverty and despair of his neighborhood. He als...more
Okay, I'll admit that I never did finish this book. It actually started out really good...a nice story of a young teenager named Ricco who is living on the hard streets of America during the 1960's. Ricco is a "white" Cuban-American who doesn't really fit in with the other darker-skined Cubans but isn't "white" enough to fit into rural Wisconsin where he finds himself after running away from home.
The story started out really well and I couldn't put it down. But once he arrived in Wisconsin, I n...more
The story started out really well and I couldn't put it down. But once he arrived in Wisconsin, I n...more
It took me forever to figure out that this book is set in the 60s. I thought it was a contemporary novel for some reason, and the only thing that really got to me was the prices of everything. Anyway. The titular "Dark Dude" is a derogatory nickname for Rico, a light-skinned Cuban-American boy who gets hassled in his school and neighborhood because the black and Latino kids think he's white. He ends up running away to Wisconsin (where an older friend of his has moved to attend college after winn...more
Rico does not fit in. His light skin does not match his Cuban heritage, and Latinos and African Americans predominantly inhabit his neighborhood. His dark, Puerto Rican friend, Gilberto, wins the lottery and moves out to a farm in Wisconsin. Rico’s other friend, Jimmy, starts dealing drugs out of the projects. Rico finds himself at an intersection in his life. Through his experiences, Rico learns who he is and that his surroundings do not change who he is inside. Oscar Hijuelos uses street langu...more
I see myself in Rico character. He came from a dysfunctional family, a very difficult mother and a drunk of a father. He lived in a tough neighberhood full of drugs and gangs. It was almost impossible for him to stay clean and not being affected by his surrounding. He has seen so much in his young life, but blessed with his writing skills. He wrote superhero comic stories to keep himself busy and out of troubles. Writing takes him to a different world, the world where he is the hero, the one to...more
The author of this YA novel won the Pulitzer for his Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, and he is highly regarded. He says he wrote this because he wishes he had a book like this when he was a teen. It tells the story of Rico, son of Cuban immigrants, who looks white. He is extremely self-conscious about this and often hassled in his neighborhood and at school because of it. After a particularly violent incident, he decides to runaway to Wisconsin. There are a lot of references to Huck Finn and the...more
Considering that this book was part of the principal's book club I had high hopes. Furthermore, Oscar Hijuelos is a powerful author and I was excited to see what he would create for a young adult audience.
Unfortunately, I found this book boring! It has an interesting premise. A white looking Cubano runs away from home to join is friend on a farm in rural Wisconsin. I did not find Rico's journey compelling. His issues with his family were poorly developed. Yeah his dad drank and his mom yelled, b...more
Unfortunately, I found this book boring! It has an interesting premise. A white looking Cubano runs away from home to join is friend on a farm in rural Wisconsin. I did not find Rico's journey compelling. His issues with his family were poorly developed. Yeah his dad drank and his mom yelled, b...more
I'm always drawn to stories about being an outsider, searching to know your identity, and teen angst. This one didn't fail. The protagonist's adventure is utterly realistic, one thing I like about the plot. You wouldn't doubt about the likelihood of each scene in real life. You would think that it is a true-to-life story if it wasn't for its caption-less cover. Rico is a representation of someone who is different from everybody around him in terms of appearance. He is in the REAL world. It's hap...more
I must say I identified with the Dark Dude of this young adult novel...someone who because of his light skin does not quite belong to the culture he's supposed to be a part of, in this case, Cuban. Oscar Hijuelos, himself a cubano rubio, knows of what he speaks and describes it with nuance and humor. We're all outsiders one way or another, especially teenagers who always feel like they don't belong. His use of Spanish interspersed in the English was just right. A wonderful novel for the young or...more
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A very good story about what it means to grow up in America and feel defined by our landscape. Rico, the story's narrator, runs away from home early in the novel to escape the pressures of life in New York City. He stays with friends on a farm in rural Wisconsin and works at a gas station, becoming responsible for his knowledge of how the world works and for his dreams.
It's a good book, in the vein of S.E. Hinton, and very true to life, being written from a first-person perspective, and making w...more
It's a good book, in the vein of S.E. Hinton, and very true to life, being written from a first-person perspective, and making w...more
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Oscar Hijuelos (born August 24, 1951) is an American novelist. He is the first Hispanic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Hijuelos was born in New York City, in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, to Cuban immigrant parents. He attended the Corpus Christi Schoo, public schools, and later attended Bronx Community College, Lehman College, and Manhattan Community College before matriculating into and s...more
More about Oscar Hijuelos...
Hijuelos was born in New York City, in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, to Cuban immigrant parents. He attended the Corpus Christi Schoo, public schools, and later attended Bronx Community College, Lehman College, and Manhattan Community College before matriculating into and s...more
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