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ONCE UPON A
QUINCEAÑERA: Coming of Age in
the USA -
Julia Alvarez
“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.”—Publishers
Weekly (STARRED Review)
“ONCE
UPON A QUINCEAÑERA is a thorough, thoughtful, and important
book. Alvarez’s exploration of the quinceañera leads her on a journey into
the world of teenage Latinas, describing the many issues that bicultural
girls face in America …Bravo,
Julia Alvarez.”
—Mary Pipher,
author of The Middle of Everywhere
and Reviving Ophelia
“Ever
since I saw my Mexican cousins celebrating their quinces in frilly pink
over-the-top dresses, I was skeptical.
Julia Alvarez is skeptical too, and I identified completely with
her honest critique of this celebration. So imagine my surprise when I
finished the book and found myself convinced that I want my daughter to
have a quince! This is not just a book for Latinas.
ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA is for
all of us…especially for those of us raising daughters in America today.” —Maria
Hinojosa, Senior Correspondent for NOW/PBS, author of
Raising Raul and
Crews
“ONCE
UPON A QUINCEAÑERA is a book for anyone who is a teenager, or
anyone who is raising one, or, for that matter, anyone who was once a
teenager themselves. With humor, honesty, and compassion,
Julia Alvarez allows us to witness the choices many young women and
their families are making and the financial, emotional, and cultural
repercussions of what, to the outsider, can seem like a very innocent
coming of age ritual…. Alvarez’s writerly charms and insights are on full
display.”
—Vendela Vida,
author of The Girls on the Verge
and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your
Name.
"With
grace and humanity, Alvarez explores the fascinating evolution of the
quinceañera tradition in the United States , responding provocatively to a
tradition that charms her and simultaneously clashes with her feminist
sensibilities. ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERAis
a must-read for anyone with a daughter on the verge of adulthood.”—Cristina
Garcia,
author of Dreaming in Cuban
and A Handbook to Luck
Quinceañera is the
fifteenth birthday celebration for a Latina girl and is quickly becoming
an American event. This phenomenon of the Latina “sweet fifteen” is
explored in ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA:
Coming of Age in the
USA (Viking; On-Sale: August 6, 2007; $23.95) by
Julia Alvarez, one of America’s most beloved Latina writers and
bestselling author of How the García
Girls Lost their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, and
many other books.
This legendary party is a
sight to behold: lavish ball gowns, extravagant catered meals, DJs,
limousines, and multi-tiered cakes. The must-haves for a “quince” are
becoming as numerous and costly as a wedding. Yet, this elaborate ritual
hearkens back to traditions from native countries and communities,
offering young Latinas a chance to connect with their heritage.
In
ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA,
Julia Alvarez takes on this celebration that brings a girl into
womanhood. She attends the quince of Monica, a young woman who lives in
Queens , only a few minutes from where Alvarez grew up, and
witnesses the commotion, confusion, and potential for disaster that comes
with planning this important event. Alvarez weaves in interviews with
other quince girls, her own memories of coming of age as an immigrant, and
the history of the custom itself—how it originated and what has changed as
Latinas become accustomed to a “super-size-it” American culture.
ONCE
UPON A QUINCEAÑERA
is an enlightening, accessible, and entertaining portrait of an aspect of
contemporary Latino culture as well as a critical look at the rituals of
coming of age and the economic and social consequences of the quinceañera.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR -
Julia Alvarez
is the author of five books of fiction, a book of essays, five collections
of poetry, and five books for children. She and her husband, Bill Eichner,
founded Alta Gracia, a sustainable farm in the
Dominican Republic that produces
organic coffee and also serves as a literacy center. She lives in
Vermont , where she is a writer-in-residence at
Middlebury College .
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