Sucker Punch -- a review by Jorge Morejón

Sucker Punch

by David Hernández

** stars

Sucker Punch is a book about two Hispanic brothers (Marcus and Enrique), who live in California with their mother after their father left them. Marcus, or "Nub" as his some of his friends call him, is a senior in high school. Senior's in high school named Marcus Mendoza have lots of problems. They only have only 9 fingers after a bad skateboarding incident, their friend's dad just killed himself and they have to figure out what to say, and they’re too shy to talk to any girl; not to mention the fact that his little brother Enrique is better than him at almost everything. But there is one advantage he has over Enrique; he didn't get beat by their dad for 5 years since he left. Enrique's scarred by this, and practically falls apart without his anti-depressants. Marcus feels guilty for never doing anything to stop it, and after a few month's of getting high and tripping out with his friends, the two of them decide to make things better themselves after their mom tells them their dad wants to come back. Enrique has the bright idea of showing his dad what it feels like to be the one with no power, and Marcus, along with Ashley (Enrique's girlfriend who Marcus is oh so jealous of) and one of Marcus friends, come along too. Enrique and Marcus take a gun with them when they go talk to their father, and Enrique feels like what it really is like to be the one in power. After the incident with their father on the way back, Marcus finds out what it's like to have to take a life after a man's trailer crashes and his horse has to be put down. When they get back, there's a crow that stays with their family. Right after Marcus starts getting comfortable with the crow, he leaves and flies off, never to be seen again.

Overall, this book wasn't that good. I read it in 3 hours, one sitting, and wasn't that impressed. The story-telling was very casual, but the material wasn't that good. I found it interesting to read how Enrique was becoming more like the man he despised through the book, without it being completely spelled out. I never felt that close to Marcus. He feels alienated by people and his drug-ridden, dysfunctional failure lifestyle was presented in a way that made me feel somewhat alienated from him too. I just couldn't get that comfortable with his way of thinking and describing things. This book isn't all butterflies and rainbows, so don't expect that at least.

This book isn't available in the O'Hara library, but can be ordered through the public library for delivery to O'Hara.