Dark Dude, Oscar Hijuelos

Hijuelos, Oscar (2008).
Dark Dude
New York: Atheneum
978-1416948049
Genre: Realistic Fiction


In 1960s, Rico Fuentes, a pale-skinned Cuban American teenager, abandons drug-infested New York City for the picket fence and apple pie world of Wisconsin, only to discover that he still feels like an outsider and that violent and judgmental people can be found in even the wholesome Midwest.
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Fifteen-year-old Rico is what the Latinos and African Americans call a “dark dude”, someone who is light skinned and not to be trusted in the ghetto community (Dictionary of Slang definition included by Hijuelos). Growing up as a Cuban American in New York, Rico faces his otherness daily as he walks to school and frequently gets jumped. His mother blames him for their financial situation (he was a sickly child and the family incurred unaffordable medical bills), his father drinks daily, and his closest friend Jimmy has become a heroine addict. Rico escapes by reading comic books and dreaming of becoming a writer ala Mark Twain, but when problems escalate at his high school and Rico witnesses a shooting, the comic books and novels are not enough for Rico to forget his problems. The only solace he feels is when he reads the letters he receives from Gilberto, an older friend who writes from Wisconsin- a lottery winner who “escaped the streets of NY.” After much trepidation, Rico decides to run away to Wisconsin; he convinces Jimmy to go with him, and they hitchhike to Gilberto’s farm. Much like Mark Twain’s novel, Rico and Jimmy learn valuable lessons along the way. On the farm, the two boys help Gilberto and the handful of boarders; they befriend one another and help one another out. Rico finds a girlfriend and enjoys the farmland, but after six months or so, he longs for his mother’s cooking and wonders about his parents. He also feels uneasy at the boarders’ decision to grow marijuana. While working at the local gas station, Rico is assaulted because he is thought to be gay. The event combined with his uneasiness at home force Rico to realize that prejudice exists everywhere, and one must face it to survive. Hijuelos presents Rico's realization thoroughly and authentically; the novel will appeal to anyone interested in human nature.