| Haters | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
| Publication date | October 4, 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 368 pp |
| ISBN | 0-316-01307-2 |
| OCLC Number | 63692346 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.V2158 Hat 2006 |
Haters is a 2006 young adult novel by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez,[1] who was named one of the 25 most influential Hispanics in the US by Time magazine in 2005. It is Valdes-Rodriguez's first young adult novel.[2]
The novel follows a young psychic girl named Pasquala Rumalda Quintana de Archuleta (Paski) who moves from Taos, New Mexico to Aliso Viejo, California with her father so he can work on the movie for his comic 'Squeegee Man'. Before moving, Paski visits her psychic grandmother, who gives her a necklace with a turquoise stone carved into a Anatidae, which is supposed to protect her. When she moves into her new apartment, she meets Japanese twins Keoni and Kerani, and starts to hear Japanese voices in her head. They warn her about the 'Haters' at school. Later, Paski rides on her bike to her new school, Aliso Niguel High School, where she meets Chris Cabrera, who also warns her about the haters, three popular girls in school. Her dad signs her up for a 'peer mentor' named Tina, who tells her about the 'haters',but now,this person named Jessica Nguyen, who is the national motocross champion, shares a clothes line with her mom, and is worth over two-hundred-fifty-million dollars, Haley Williams, who is a great singer/songwriter and looks like Alicia Keys, and Briana, who looks like a younger Britney Spears or older Jamie Lynn Spears and plays volleyball, but Jessica only keeps in in the group because she "looks great in a bikini". Upon meeting Jessica, Paski has a vision of her in a cast in the hospital. A kid in her class named Andrew Van Dyke invites her to a party. Tina warns her to be careful at the party because she is still a virgin. Before school, Paski tells Keoni and Kerani about the Japanese yelling in her head, and their mom tells Paski that her mother and her grandmother were put in internment camps where the grandmother was raped in front of the mother. Paski then decides to join the newspaper at her school, and the editor, Sydney, gives her a piece about the motocross race to interview other racers about her. At the party, Andrew slips in a Date rape drug to her Coke, and Paski begins to see the full vision of Jessica upon her arrival. Paski tries to warn Jessica about the vision, however, everyone thinks she's crazy, and, knowing that Chris has feelings for Paski, threatens her and pushes her into the pool, making her hit the back of her head and her nose on one side of the pool. Chris breaks up with Jessica. When Paski is released from the hospital, she has a dream where Keoni and Kerani's grandmother, Yuko, tells her that her father is going to marry the twins' mother. Chris invites Paski over so he can teach her how to ride a motorcycle, where they share their first kiss together. Paski invites Haley over to go shopping, since she was being much nicer to her. While they were shopping, Paski asks her to warn Jessica about the vision, but when they call her she only gets a voicemail. When Haley and Paski go to the competition to see Jessica and further warn her, Jessica falls, breaking two legs and an arm, and having a concussion because her helmet wasn't tight enough. Jessica invites her over after she gets out of the hospital, and apologizes for pushing her in the pool. At Jessica's house, Jessica tells Paski she can date Chris and join their group, but they're going to have to kick Haley out. Jessica begins to plot to make her substitute rider, Lori McCafferty , to fall in the competition. Briana and Andrew loosened the bolts on Lori's bike, and, having signed a contract, Paski calls Chris to warn Lori. Briana and Andrew are sent to jail, because Jessica refused to take the blame for it. Paski ends up being the substitute rider for Lori, and wins. Later, Chris takes her to Haley's house, where she performs a song that she wrote for Paski. The story ends with an early surprise birthday party, including Paski's friends from Taos, Emily and Janet, and her grandmother...:)