Earn The Deportation Of Wopper Barraza: A Novel Author Maceo Montoya Formatted As Paperback

really enjoyed this book, Off the top of my headand Ive read my share of novels through the yearsthis is the one book Ive read that truly pulled off a narrative with multiple narrators.
The choice in having various narrators to tell a story about one man worked for me because each narrative voice was distinct in tone, and because the multiple narrators provided a richer, more complex vantage of the novels main protagonist.
If Montoya played it straight from a more traditional storytelling sense, I think this novel would have been limited if it was, say, told by an omniscient narrator.
Having a story unfold through multiple narrators allowed us to feel the larger breadth of this story, allowed us to get to know characters such as Woppers pop, the conniving Don Elpidio, and the deliciously oftkilter Lucio Barraza more intimately.
For me, it made the novel more fun to read by switching characters and narrative vantages throughout it gave the book a refreshing clip.
In a way, it also provided a more visceral sense of how one person, one character, has a larger effect on the people s/he is connected to.


My one complaint is that by the end I dont feel like we really got to understand the motives of Mija, who is a pivotal, driving character.
Throughout much of the novel, I felt compelled to read not to find out how Woppers change manifested, but more so to figure out what would happen between Roberto and Mija.
Her motivation was a mystery I wanted to solve, and I still felt like it was unresolved by the end,

But other than that, this was an unexpectedly fantastic novel about a seemingly uninteresting, passive character which I think is one of the many points made by the book.
I highly recommend it. My cousin told me about this book, good story,
The way that Maceo wrote this book was beyond great, He writes in a way that you cannot put the book down and you just can't wait to see what is next, Although this story is sad, it opens your eyes to the reality of being a part of two cultures and all the different aspects that come with it.
This book is amazingly written, I would recommend this to anyone who is a part of two cultures or is close to someone who is.
What a brilliantly conceived cautionary tale about what can happen to a young adult so adrift in his lack of motivation he loses his legal status in the only community, Woodland, Ca.
, and country he calls home, Thus is the misfortune of Roberto Barraza who goes by the hardly flattering nickname Wopper for his consumption of too many Whoppers from Burger King.
He's moved up to an over consumption of alcohol and combined it with driving under the influence, And finally, the judge decided enough is enough,

What follows is the story of a reverse immigration back to the community of his birth, Montoya lets several characters tell Wopper's story, We watch his plaintive and frightened return with trepidation and then marvel at his ability to move forward in Michoacan, Mexico, Or does he Is Roberto behaving as an adult who no longer fits his youthful nickname or is he merely the puppet of the charming woman who becomes his girlfriend Does he really understand the nuance of an entrenched "good old boy" set of rules as he tries to develop a residential community We learn some of the answers through the eyes and ears of longtime residents of La Puedad sister city of Woodland.


Montoya has written a timely novel addressing some of the many issues facing the dreamer generation the children who arrived because their parents had a dream for a better life.
What of their dreams or do they have any

This book should be required reading for every secondary and collegiate California history course.
We need to find a positive solution for our friends and neighbors, The Deportation of Wopper Barraza is a refreshingly original tale about an undocumentedsomething, Roberto "Wopper" Barraza, who gets deported back to Mexico after his fourth DUI conviction.
This gets at an aspect of the story that I think is very important: the protagonist doesn't fit the "perfect hardworking DREAMer" mold that is so popular in literature about undocumented youth.
Rather, he is an aimlessyear old who doesn't know what he wants from life, or how to go about getting it, He has trouble holding down a job, spends too much time watching TV, and is completely unable to adequately communicate his emotions, It's important that literature about undocumented people recognizes the humanity of all undocumented people, not just the ones who fit the perfect, smart, overachieving narrative.


This book uses a defaultrd person limited narrative, but it also has certain chapters and subchapters take place from thest person point of view of side characters.
This is quite a risk that can backfire for some writers, but Montoya pulls it off well here, Each character's voice is unique and consistent, and getting things from their point of view really helps drive home the effect Wopper has on each person involved in the story.
It also does a good job of humanizing them as individuals, too,

This novel not only defies normal fictional conventions about undocumented people by having such an imperfect protagonist, but also by mixing in other genres into the story beyond the normal "struggling to achieve" narrative.
At the end of the day this novel is still about Barraza's struggles and growth, but elements of political thrillers and mystery novels are present, too.
While I don't think everything always gels together well, it's a cool attempt to blend genres, I respect the ambition.

My main problem with this book is that its resolution, well, doesn't really resolve much, To avoid spoilers, let's just say many if not most questions are left unanswered, I don't have problems with unanswered questions in fiction per se, especially in a book where a lot of the questions seem like they were meant to be unanswered.
But too many plot lines and mysteries involved are left hanging abruptly, as if toward the end Montoya thought "ehh I'm tired of writing, let's end this already.
" I finished largely unsatisfied, save for some great passages at the end,

Overall, this is a good book that is worth reading, It challenges a lot of common narratives and genre conventions in Chican literature, The ending is unsatisfying, but everything else works for the most part, Fiction MdSO DIFFERENT from the usual Latin amp Chicano Studies narratives, Battles against the many of the stereotypes of race, ethnicity, identity, amp gender, I picked up this book as part of a Chicano / Latino immigrant reading list I'm starting to put together for my students, One of the things that struck me the most about this book is how much of my students I saw in the The Deportation of Wopper Barraza's protagonist, Roberto "Wopper" Barraza.
The author talks about Wopper and his peers as being the children of a generation of immigrants who fought and sacrificed for an "imagined future," while Wopper and his peers struggle to imagine a future of their own.
In the book, Wopper's college counselor is frustrated with his own futile attempts to help young people like Wopper realize their potential, By the end, the counselor wonders if his attempts were, indeed, futile after all, We, the readers, are left wondering the same,
This book is refreshing in the sense that it tells an immigration story in reverse, In many MexicanAmerican immigrant narratives, the story focuses on crossing the border, and finally arriving to the U,

S. Rarely does such a story begin with a Mexican national being deported from the only home they know, and having to build a life from zero in their parents' ancestral pueblo.

While I really enjoyed that aspect of the book, I never felt as invested in the characters as I wanted to be, I didn't feel like I really got to know them or had as full a picture of them as I wanted, Three it is. Great start, weak finish. Many things left unanswered. I read this book for English class sophomore year, It wasn't anything I ever would have chosen to read on my own, but I thought it was an enticing and enjoyable read, especially as an assignment.
My goto is cute romance and feelgood, fun books, This definitely is more complex and actionpacked than I'm used to, but the plot kept me interested, I also really enjoyed the constant POV switches, they added a lot to the story, A good read if you're looking for something a little deeper and filled with plot twists, While I appreciated the multiple narrators and the raw look at the wide spread effects of deportation, I was bored throughout the majority of the book.
Much of the plot revolves around cement pouring businesses, and that just doesnt interest me, This novel was fantastic! It was so interesting to see all of the different points of views surrounding Wopper's deportationa great way to introduce the audience to the complexities discussed within this book.
Mija, for me, is the most interesting character in the novel, and makes it worth reading, It's also a wonderful Chicanx novel, which is always a plus, The characters come alive and the problems they face seem real, Clever perspective switching throughout the book, The ending was just a little on the anticlimatic side, but still made sense, A unique look at the effects of a single deportation, Montoya provides an in depth examination of everyone involved and gives voice to this important issue, “A brilliant and innovative take on an issue close to the hearts and minds of families who have one foot planted firmly on both sides of the border.
It is a deportation story in reverse: a bold reenvisioning with unexpected consequences, mystery, and insight, ”Tim Z. Hernandez, author of Mañana Means Heaven

After Wopper Barrazas fourth drunk driving violation, the judge orders his immediate deportation, “But I havent been there since I was a little kid,” says Wopper, whose parents brought him to California when he was three years old.
Now he has to move back to Michoacán, When he learns that his longtime girlfriend is pregnant, the future looks even more uncertain, Wopper's story unfolds as life in a rural village takes him in new and unexpected directions,
This immigrant saga in reverse is a story of young people who must live with the reality of their parents dream, We know this story from the headlines, but up to now it has been unexplored literary territory,

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
Maceo Montoya is an assistant professor in the Chicana/o studies department at UC Davis and an affiliated faculty member of Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer TANA, a communitybased art center in Woodland, California.
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