Synopsis
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. A collection of nine stories about Mexican-American kids growing up in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas.
VOYA
Nine slice of life stories, told from multiple points of view and in different voices, resonate with the sounds and sights of a Mexican American childhood spent in South Texas. From the intensity of an unhoped-for first romance to the poignancy of a cleaning woman's attachment to her employer's children or the wish of an aging aunt, Rice generously invites the reader into the world of his childhood—a world filled with eccentric characters both human and animal. Although the writing is sometimes stilted and the Spanish words and phrases unfamiliar, the emotions evoked by the interactions among characters ring solid and true. Whether the focus is the relationship between a boy and his grandfather, schoolmates vying for the attention of the same girl, or tough guys teaching the skills of an altar boy to new initiates, Rice captures the gestalt of the moment in vignettes that resemble nothing so much as the reminiscences shared by good friends at a party. Quirky, sometimes rambling and uneven in quality, these stories nonetheless have a charm all their own for those select readers willing to enter the unfamiliar territory of a culture different from their own. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P M J (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2001, Dial, 144p, . Ages 12 to 15. Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo SOURCE: VOYA, June 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 2)