Motorcycle MVP - "The Look"

Somwhere in the middle of the book, Yoli’s sister tells her not to be a tonta, or not to be a boba. According to Ana Maria, Yoli should just do as she does to make men pay attention.   But its when Yoli comes up with her own “Look”, I think she  establishes herself as her own person.  I vote “The Look” for MVP.

I  can see  how  “The Look” might annoy some readers.    After all, Yoli is clearly smarter and more compassionate than any of the other characters in the novel.   She reads classic literature. She writes poetry in her journal.  And probably most important,  she’s always there first  for her family and friends.  So when we see her strutting down down the locker hall at school all made up like some chola gangster chick, it’s kind of letdown.  I mean, we expect more from Yoli. 

She has enough going on where she doesn’t have to resort to the same old tired stuff that every other girl is trying in that hallway.  Yoli.. where’s the creativity?  The ideas?  Remember,  you are a mad poet!

But , then again Yoli’s new  Look has little to do with  eyelash curler, the mascara or the lipstick that  her sister loaned her.   For Yoli’s sisters and friend, the Look comes from hours spent priming and practicing in front of the mirror, wishing and hoping that their man will notice.   Yoli, however, isn’t the type of person to wait around and let things happen.  She pays more attention  what she feels in her heart than what she sees in the mirror.   Yoli’s Look  came out with her true emotion when she started throwing books in the hallway.   

In the beginning of the novel, Little Yoli learned an important lesson  in the go-kart run from her brother Chuy: he explained to her that real freedom comes when you “ push yourself all the way.”  In this scene with the out-of-control gokart she pushes herself nearly to the point of explosion to experience the feeling.   The same thing happens with Francisco.  When she lets loose with her lethal weapons – her textbooks – sheisn’t thinking about becoming Prom Queen;  she’s Queen of the Javelin throwers, and that feels fine with her.   

“And when the pinches cabrones finally walked past me, silent and embarrassed, not knowing what kind of walk to walk, Francisco’s eyes and mine met, and I gave him The LooK.”

Here, Yoli has stepped out of the shadows of her brothers and sisters.  She is her own person, and she has her own Look.  She’s free at last.  You Go Girl!