We Were Here- You Just Have to Stop and See Us Every Once and Awhile

It is always important to think about another person’s perspective. It is a skill that is helpful for life and you can begin learning it through literature. We Were Here by Matt de la Peña is from the perspective of a young, half-Hispanic boy, Miguel, who has been placed in a group home for one year as punishment for a crime (a crime that is kept as secret from the reader until the end of the novel).

We Were Here is a combination of road trip book mixed with a story of a young man coming to terms with his own guilt. There are some fun characters like Miguel’s group-home friends Mong and Rondell and his surfer-dude counselor, Jaden. I personally found Mong’s female cousin to be an amusing and fun character. I would also like to mention that I think Miguel’s mother is a very interesting character. Though she is not really in the story that much, she has a huge presence in Miguel’s life. Her character brings up issues about the importance of parenting and the way children crave their parents’ love, especially when they make mistakes. (I thought I should definitely mention her importance in the novel. I think it is very interesting that so far, the YA novels that I have reviewed with protagonists that are a minority, their mother have a deep impact in their lives. I’m not sure what that means yet; it is just an intriguing observation.)

Another part of We Were Here that I really enjoyed was the way that Miguel develops a passion for reading at the group home. He offers great insight into classic novels like The Color Purple, Of Mice and Men, and The Catcher in the Rye. Miguel’s reading offers a strong message for readers. Like Miguel, readers can find things to relate to in a variety of different types of novels, regardless of their own background. I also was just happy to see a main character with a love of reading!

Miguel is a wonderfully complex character, which makes him a great narrator for this story. The reader gets to follow Miguel on a journey of self-realization and, in turn, the reader gets to learn about their own prejudices. We Were Here is sometimes a hard story to read. The characters come from harsh backgrounds and it is upsetting to think of the lack of control these teens have had about the environment they come from. But a good lesson for girls to learn is that sometimes the best stories are not the easiest ones to tell. The best stories challenge you to expand your horizons. Matt de la Peña's novel is the story of children you see, but pay little attention too. They are the real children left behind, or at least left out of society’s mind. This book makes you care about these youths story. It makes you pay attention to those who are normally forgotten. Have you ever felt forgotten, or even lonely? Wouldn’t you want someone to care about your story?

There was a lot of controversy surrounding this book when we read it in my YA Literature class. Some people thought it was a hard book to relate to because Miguel’s story was so extremely different from their everyday lives. On the other hand, there were other members of our class that were so happy to finally read a novel that spoke to them. Our discussion of this book was one of the most passionate we have had all semester, which to me means that this book is certainly addressing topics and concerns that are not available in other YA selections and that makes it worth giving a chance.

Parent/Teacher Advisory: There is a lot of profanity in the novel and some violence and references to sexual behavior. The elements, though, add to the authenticity of the novel’s setting. However, some may find these elements to be unsuitable for younger readers.

Overall recommendation: We Were Here is a good novel; and, it is great that its main character is a minority. There should be many more novels, especially YA novels with minority protagonists. This is not to say that this novel alienates any readers or that one cannot relate to the characters in the novel. In fact, I would say the opposite. The way Miguel learns to not judge Mong and Rondell after he reads their files is a great example for all readers to understand there is so much more to people than first impressions. You get to learn so much alongside these characters that the sometimes difficult issues of the novel: race, juvenile delinquency, forgiveness, social schisms, poverty, while very important, end up being complimentary to, not overshadowing of the novel’s emotional reliability. These characters’ doubts and fears, and struggles to find who they will become, are universal. It is a different viewpoint than most girls will find in YA literature and that uniqueness itself warrants a consideration.