Analysis Of Matt De La Peña's We Were Here

Matt De La Peña’s We Were Here tells the story of Miguel Castañeda, a boy who is sent to juvenile prison for killing his brother. Miguel is quickly transferred to a group home. Miguel escapes with Rondell and Mong, two boys who become his friends on their journey towards Mexico. By the end of the story Miguel learns that he is, in fact, a person. Peña has a casual writing style in this story, which incorporates nonstandard dialects of English, slang, and profanity. This writing style adds an element of realism to the characters. By coupling this realism with flawed characters, unique personalities, influential backstories, and realistic reactions; Peña has created a story that breathes. Peña realistically portrays the group home experience,

He openly criticizes group homes through Miguel, saying “Yo, you really think a punk-ass place like this could make a kid better? How’s that make any sense, man?”(14) The criticism doesn’t stop with just Miguel’s remarks either. The fact that there the counselors are always changing and that “they just quit” (28) because “nobody can be around kids like us long” (28) shows that these children do not have any dependable adults, which criticizes the emotional effects on the children, as well as the overall effectiveness of group homes, into question. Rondell is a critic on the system as a whole. The fact that Rondell was able to become an elementary school dropout and that he had been in and out of the court system since he was ten shows that the system does not care about these children. The fact that he made it to the fifth grade without learning how to read is baffling. The fact that Rondell could have such clear symptoms and never be diagnosed with anything other than mild learning disabilities implies a psychological evaluation was never attempted.
The fact that Rondell never receives any psychological help for his auditory hallucinations and his delusions of demonic possession suggests he never received the proper care. In fact, all of the boys were not getting the care they needed, or they weren’t getting enough of. The fact that all three of these mentally ill children with tragic back stories