The Pura Principle

So I just read The Pura Principle by Junot Diaz and really enjoyed it. The slang language (English and Spanish) was really engaging for me. For someone who has not studied Spanish may not understand the story line when the author quotes the characters in the Spanish language. For me, who has studied Spanish throughout all four years of high school, I knew exactly what English fun words could be used instead of the Spanish slang, like "Pura Mierda".
I thought the story was great because it gave a perspective of illness from a younger teenager who didn't seem to give a "mierda" about anything, referring to his mom friends as the four horse faces. This is different from the traditional autobiographical form of cancer narratives.