I began this book with a little knowledge about a Quinceanera… and ended with a much better understanding and appreciation of all that it means. ~ Sheila

All Ana Ruiz wanted was to have a traditional quinceañera for her daughter, Carmen. She wanted a nice way to mark this milestone year in her daughter’s life. But Carmen was not interested in celebrating. Hurt

and bitter over her father Esteban’s departure, she blamed Ana for destroying their happy family, as did everyone else. A good man is hard to find, especially at your age Ana was told. Why not forgive his one indiscretion? Despite everything, Ana didn’t want to tarnish Carmen’s childlike devotion to her beloved father. But Ana knows that growing up sometimes means facing hard truths. In the end, Ana discovers that if she’s going to teach Carmen anything about what it means to be a woman, it will take more than simply a fancy party to do it..

I struggled a bit in the beginning of the book with the Spanish words that were used in an otherwise english sentence.  In many cases I did not know the words meaning or have a good guess so I had to skip over those parts.  As the book moved forward and I became familiar with the characters and the rythym of the book it became easier not to be stumped by these words as I was already engrossed in the story line.

Author, Belinda Acosta puts together a wonderful read with a story of tradition that takes me out of my own corner of the world and places me in hers.

I have attended a Quinceanera in Honduras this past February, although until this book, I did not know that is what it was called.  Ava had turned 15 and I was told that as Honduras customs this was a coming of age type event where a young girl steps out and is not introduced as a young woman and it is time to put away childish things.  They dressed Ava up in a beautiful gown and did many of the things described in this book, such as replacing her flat shoes for high heels, taking away her teddy bed and replacing it with a beautiful necklace.  It really was something to experience – maybe more so as Ava is a street kid – a child saved from abandonment of her own parents and brought to Manuelito (where I spend time each year) and has been given a life she would have never had.

For my story of Ava, this book had a special meaning for me and I am thankful that Belinda Acosta wrote of Quinceanera’s.

About the Author:

Belinda Acosta has written and published plays, short stories, and essays. As a journalist, her work has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman, The Austin Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News, The San Antonio Current, and AlterNet. Her short story Tortilla Dough appeared in Saguaro, a publication of the University of Arizona in 1992. In 1993, she produced, directed and performed in a multi-media dance-theater performance of La Llorona. National exposure came in 1995 when she read her personal essay Gran Baile, on Latino USA – the Radio Journal of News and Culture, carried on National Public Radio.

Belinda Acosts’a Blog

I received this book from Hachette Book Group as part of a blog tour

I give this book a PG rating