He didn't say good-bye. He didn't leave a phone number. And he didn't plan on coming back - ever.
In Wi... read full description
reviews
Oct 25, 2011
"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 p
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Mar 11, 2009
Kerfe
rated it: 
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-cont 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-cont More...
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Feb 19, 2009
Caroline
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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 ti 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 ti More...
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Jan 25, 2009
Jordan
rated it: 
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 yo
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Jan 11, 2012
Stanley Bennett
rated it:
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 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 ligh More...
Sep 12, 2010
Breanna
rated it: 
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. Eve 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. Eve More...
Aug 08, 2010
Dana
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jan 11, 2010
Suzanne
rated it:
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
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Nov 02, 2009
Ron
rated it:
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, Ric More...
In the book I made a text-to-world connection. In the book, Ric More...
May 08, 2009
Rachael
rated it:
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
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May 02, 2009
Bob
rated it:
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 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 More...
May 11, 2009
Nancy
rated it:
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 betwee 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 betwee More...
Sep 08, 2011
bjneary
rated it:
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. Gilbe
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Aug 03, 2009
Lauren
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 20, 2011
Salvador
rated it:
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
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Feb 11, 2009
Carrie
rated it:
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 t 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 t More...
May 18, 2011
Javier
rated it:
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 becau More...
i rate this book 4 stars becau More...
Mar 03, 2009
Jodi
rated it:
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 al
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Jul 02, 2009
Brenda
rated it:
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. B More...
The story started out really well and I couldn't put it down. B More...
May 01, 2011
Renata
rated it:
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
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Jul 09, 2010
Heather
rated it:
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
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Jun 08, 2010
TBuck
rated it:
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
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Apr 18, 2011
Susie
rated it:
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
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May 05, 2009
Joanna
rated it:
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 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 More...
Jul 20, 2009
Liliana
rated it:
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
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Mar 13, 2009
Laura
rated it:
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, 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, More...
Jul 31, 2011
Rachel
rated it:
When I first bought this book, it was because I'd been wanting to read Oscar Hijuelos for a long time, and I thought I'd start here. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that it was teen fiction, so it probably wasn't the best one to start with. That said, it was still quite good, with a surprising amount of detail and imagery told through the eyes of a Harlem teenager. The plot was fun to follow, albeit a little simplistic, but it's really great for teens. The contrast between Rico's New York and ru
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Jan 06, 2010
Sara E.
rated it:
I liked this book for several reasons:
1. Its exploration of race, ethnicity and identity. I am a "dark dudette" myself (a Latina that looks very, very white and is often mistaken as such) so I was able to sympathize with the main character. I also enjoyed the character of Wendy, who was biracial, and found that people referred to her as an "Oreo" because of the way that she spoke and behaved. These sort of issues are not often encountered in fiction, and it refres More...
1. Its exploration of race, ethnicity and identity. I am a "dark dudette" myself (a Latina that looks very, very white and is often mistaken as such) so I was able to sympathize with the main character. I also enjoyed the character of Wendy, who was biracial, and found that people referred to her as an "Oreo" because of the way that she spoke and behaved. These sort of issues are not often encountered in fiction, and it refres More...
Dec 04, 2008
Amanda
rated it:
This is possibly one of the best concepts for a teen book I've ever encountered. Rico is Cuban but unlike anyone else in his family managed to get all the European genes from an Irish great-grandfather. Hassled by blacks and other Latinos for being white, by whites when they find out he's Cuban, and by his own mom for just being himself, he takes off to a friend's farm in Wisconsin. He hopes to find a place to belong among people who look like himself only skin colour is never the only defining
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Jun 04, 2010
Newengland
rated it:
Rico not-so-Suave is a 15-year-old kid from New York City who has to put up with the usual- school shootings, drug dealers, and muggings. What's worse, he's a Cubano who looks white thanks to his Irish Grandfather's genes, so his fellow Latinos, as well as the neighborhood blacks, mess with him. When his mentor Gilberto wins the lottery and heads to school in Wisconsin, opportunity knocks and Rico gets his chance to start anew.
The scene shifts from the mean city to the Badger State More...
The scene shifts from the mean city to the Badger State More...
