The ending of this book is a bit of a mixed bag. We have Manny joining a gang, which doesn't really seem like him—instead of trying to support his true friends or coax his big brother into getting a job, now he just cares about fitting in. And making out with girls, of course. The whole thing has us kind of wondering if Manny has lost his sense of self instead of found it, which is a bummer of a note to end on.
But then we get a major turnaround at the last moment: Instead of caring about being cool, Manny realizes that he shouldn't be in the gang after all. All it takes is watching one of the gang members rob and rough up a lady and Manny proves just how good he really is, to himself and us:
In that instant of trying to call out to Eddie, everything changed. It was like I'd finally seen my own face and recognized myself; recognized who I really should be. Then I didn't feel like catching up to Eddie anymore. Instead, I wanted to grab him, and scold him about how to treat people, how to be somebody who knows how to treat people: like my sister; like that lady. (11.73)
Basically, Manny has a huge epiphany about who he is here. And it happens pretty all of a sudden, too—one minute he feels like he should be backing Eddie up no matter what, and the next he figures out who he's truly meant to be. And while he probably still has some figuring to do ahead of him, he now knows he's definitely not someone who joins a gang. Or steals. Or beats up strangers.
Phew, right?