Once upon a quinceañera

September 15 - October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month (you may have noticed our book display that was out the last couple of weeks). So it seems only appropriate to wind up the month by talking about a new book on our shelves: Once Upon a Quinceañera: coming of age in the USA, by Julia Alvarez. Alvarez is a very popular novelist, and we have 5 of her 6 novels here on the shelves (one of them is in our Banned Books display - very cool!). She describes all of the excitement, stress, emotion and meaning that is involved in a quinceañera celebration. Think 'wedding', and then picture the bride (the center of all this attention) as a 15-year-old. That's a pretty moody, emotionally fraught age to begin with, but to add the drama of a massive celebration involving hundreds of family and friends, catered dinners, expensive ballgowns and lavish entertainment and you can see why it is such an important part of any Latina upbringing. Alvarez spent a year attending various quince celebrations and she brings the reader into the world of a young girl on the verge of womanhood. Interspersed with these details are descriptions of Latino culture in general and what it is like to grow up as a Latina in the United States. It can be a little disconcerting as Alvarez flips back and forth between the quince celebrations she is describing and her memories of her own quince and upbringing, but the book is very interesting. Teen girls might find this book especially attractive, as it shows the teen experience through a slightly different filter.