Starred review from April 30, 2007
Skillfully blending memoir and social science, Alvarez (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents) explores the quinceañera, the coming-of-age ceremony for Latinas turning 15. She spent a year researching and attending “quince” celebrations, finding out what rituals are favored and what they mean to the girls. She researched what the gowns and photo sessions cost. She interviewed people working in the “quince” industry, from party planners to cake bakers. After all, with more than 400,000 American Latinas turning 15 every year, and with the average quinceañera costing $5,000, the financial, if not the cultural importance of the “quince” should not be underestimated. Alvarez structures her book around one particular girl's ceremony, from the dreamy planning stages through the late hours of the actual, dizzying affair. By intercutting the party narrative with stories from her own youth, Alvarez reminds herself—and readers—that at some point we were all confused, histrionic adolescents. Both sympathetic and critical, she doesn't dismiss the event as a waste of hard-earned savings or as a mere display of daughters for the marriage market; nor does she endorse it as the essential cultural tradition connecting Latinas to their roots. Instead, Alvarez wants readers to focus on creating positive, meaningful rites of passage for the younger generation.
November 15, 2007
Alvarez, author of "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of Butterflies" and "Saving the World" turns her focus on the quinceaera, the celebration in the Hispanic community of a girl's 15th birthday. Alvarez follows the story of Monica Ramos on the day of her "quince" and uses that as a window into studying the custom as an important part of Hispanic culture and also as a linking of the Hispanic community with the girl's family. Alvarez looks at the traditions and the booming quinceaera industry, spurred by people willing to spend up to $150,000 for their daughter's special day, and the pressure to present a daughter even in a family facing poverty. She also looks at the Hispanic community as a whole, where girls celebrate their quinceaera one year and are pregnant the next. Alvarez considers the religious aspect of the celebration and how certain groups are using it to encourage both males and females to seek educational success and become involved in community activism. Ultimately, Alvarez reveals her own childhood and young adult experiences where she had some missteps and some misdirections. Though the book can be disjointed at times, it is a fascinating study of an important turning point for Latinas, the fastest-growing community in the United States. Though Daphne Rubin-Vega gives a fine narration, there are times she seems too young to be representing the author, sounding like she is only 15 herself. This might be an occasion where having the author read her own work would have been more effective. Libraries with a large Hispanic history and culture section, with a focus on women's history, or collecting Alvarez's works should purchase this audiobook.Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress
Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 27, 2007
With a voice that is at once huskily mature and sweetly girlish and with a native sense of Spanish pronunciation and rhythm, Broadway star Daphne Rubin-Vega was an inspired choice to narrate Alvarez's examination of the Latina girl's “sweet 15” celebration, the quinceañera, a booming industry now as immigrant families in the U.S. show off their success by throwing fabulous parties for their daughters. As Alvarez interviews and observes teenage Latinas while reminiscing about her own turbulent adolescence in the 1960s, Rubin-Vega alters her sultry tone expertly to contrast the younger generation's brash American attitudes with Alvarez and other older immigrants' more skeptical views. In the second half, Alvarez's writing turns comparatively dry and preachy when she shifts from describing concrete experience to discussing her research into the development of tradition and advocating for a better support system for adolescents. Still, there's plenty to savor in this production, and anyone looking for insight into a phenomenon that will only grow as the Latino population in the U.S. increases will appreciate this skillful presentation of Alvarez's insights into the culture. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, May 30).