Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena

I was pleasantly by this read. Danny is half-Mexican, but has never felt like he fits in--at his private white boy school or with his Hispanic family in National City. When his mom gives him the chance to spend a summer with his cousin, Danny jumps at the chance to escape. He has trouble learning the rules or the community--and finds friendship in Uno, the same boy who punched him hard enough he needed stitches on his first day at the stickball field. The two boys form a hard-to-beat pitcher/catcher duo. Along the way, they help each other deal with their father issues--a serious topic that isn't handled this well in many books with male teenage characters. This title is on the 2011 Abe Lincoln IL book award list.