Piri

The author. His name is actually John Thomas but people call him Piri. He is twelve as the book begins and twenty-eight at the end. Piri's mother is Puerto Rican and his father is Cuban but Piri takes his looks from his father. He is dark-skinned with a flat nose and curly hair. It makes many people believe he is a Negro and Piri will spend much of his early life fighting those prejudices. Piri's father does not acknowledge his Negro heritage and it seems Piri's own denial is tied to his father's. From an early age, Piri believes his father loves him less than his siblings and blames the fact he is so much darker than his brothers and sisters. He eventually travels south in the hope of finding something about his roots. It is never clear exactly what he is searching for or exactly what he...