Confetti Girl [Paperback]

Diana Lopez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010 | Age Range: 8 and up

Apolonia "Lina" Flores is a sock enthusiast, a volleyball player, a science lover, and a girl who's just looking for answers. Even though her house is crammed full of books (her dad's a bibliophile), she's having trouble figuring out some very big questions, like why her dad seems to care about books more than her, why her best friend's divorced mom is obsessed with making cascarones (hollowed eggshells filled with colorful confetti), and, most of all, why her mom died last year. Like colors in cascarones, Lina's life is a rainbow of people, interests, and unexpected changes.

In her first novel for young readers, Diana López creates a clever and honest story about a young Latina girl navigating growing pains in her South Texan city.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8–Lina attends middle school in Corpus Cristi, TX, has a crush on classmate Luís, loves science and sports, and has a sock obsession as a result of her pants never being long enough for her tall body. Her best friend, Vanessa Cantu, lives across the street with her mother, who is still bitter about a divorce that happened a few years earlier. Lina's mother died last year, and her father is still grieving but struggling to live up to his responsibilities. Dichos, Spanish sayings or proverbs, are translated at the top of every chapter. Spanish phrases are sprinkled throughout the text, reflecting Lina's bilingual community. The budding romance, and typical middle school events such as detention, lunchroom disasters, and reports, keep things moving. Lina is essentially a sunny, happy child and her sadness and anger are more blips on the radar than real angst. A subplot about Luís's stuttering seems extraneous. Quite typical in characters, plot, and style, this story is most notable for its casual introduction to Spanish language and culture, overtly accessible to all.–Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'Employing lovely metaphors and realistic dialogue, adult author Lopez delicately displays the power of optimism and innovation during difficult times' Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316029564
• ISBN-13: 978-0316029568
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diana Lopez is the author of the novels, Sofia's Saints and Confetti Girl. She is also one of the featured authors in Hecho en Tejas, an anthology of writing by Texas-Mexicans (University of New Mexico Press, 2007). Her short stories have appeared in Chicago Quarterly Review, Sycamore Review, and New Texas Journal. She has been featured on NPR's Latino USA and is the 2004 winner of the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Award, sponsored by author Sandra Cisneros. Diana Lopez lives in San Antonio, Texas where she teaches at St. Philip's College. For more information, visit her website at www.dianalopezbooks.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too July 16, 2009

By TeensReadToo

Format:Hardcover

CONFETTI GIRL should be a big hit with the middle grade market. It takes a Latino backdrop and combines it with likeable characters experiencing the typical ups and downs of middle school life and puts it all in a fun, eye-catching cover.

Meet Apolonia (Lina) and her crazy sock collection. She sees herself as overly tall and gawky with skinny legs, an interest in science, and a sometimes annoying directness. Lina lives with her father, a high school English teacher. Several years earlier her mother died after she fell and cut her leg. The cut was not really serious, but the blood infection that followed was.

Life has been difficult, but Lina has her best friend, Vanessa, as support. In fact, they have supported each other since Lina's mother died and Vanessa's mother went through a nasty divorce. They have weathered the events fairly well, and now are hoping that their parents can begin to adjust and live more normal lives.

Mixed in with these personal tragedies are several other plot twists. Lina's grade in English is plummeting so she finds herself ineligible for sports, the one area where she shines. Vanessa has been acting strange anytime she is around Carlos. Lina has even caught them kissing. She knows part of her anger about this is due to jealousy, since she has liked a boy named Luis for quite some time, but their relationship doesn't seem to be progressing to the same level.

Author Diana Lopez is spot-on with her descriptions of budding middle school romance, merciless teasing, and parent/child misunderstandings. Young readers will find much to like about CONFETTI GIRL, including the added bonus of the Latino words of wisdom that begin each chapter and the Hispanic customs scattered throughout the story....

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" Read more ›

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Satisfying and Enjoyable Read September 22, 2009

By KidsReads

Format:Hardcover

Apolonia Flores, nicknamed Lina, struggles with her father's concept that "books are your best friends" ("Los amigos mejores son libros"). That is not true in Lina's life, and she resents that her father, who shares the sorrow of her mother's death the previous year, buries himself in books, thus distancing himself not only from sadness but also from his daughter. Luckily, though, Lina has a lot going on in her life. For one thing, she has her hobby: socks. Her dresser is divided into drawers for her daily wear socks (organized by color and style), socks without partners, socks with holes, and "sock heaven" (outgrown and otherwise useless socks). Lina is creative with her socks, fashioning earmuffs, wallets and more from them.

Lina's very best friend, Vanessa, lives just across the street. Their relationship has gotten a bit more complicated lately. Lina doesn't care that Vanessa is gorgeous and she is not. But she does mind that Vanessa does everything first, and when Vanessa's relationship with her first boyfriend progresses rapidly, Lina is not always thrilled with her own standing in Vanessa's life.

Speaking of boyfriends, Lina has a love interest, too. The very nice Luis reciprocates her fascination with him. Luis is cute and smart. His stutter (usually) doesn't distract Lina one bit from his tremendous potential.

Vanessa's mother is another in a cast of well-drawn characters. Ms. Cantu's bitterness about her husband leaving her has manifested itself in a constant marathon of cascarone making. One of the many pleasures of CONFETTI GIRL is a plentiful array of fascinating bits about Lina's culture, and we learn that cascarones are decorated empty eggshells filled with confetti. Although most people make them for Easter, Ms. Cantu makes heaps of them year-round.... Vanessa has decided that she and Lina will manipulate their parents into a love match, but Lina is decidedly reluctant about the whole caper. Will their carefully laid plans backfire?

Lina's school life is portrayed in a more balanced fashion than seen in many similar books. Sure, there is a mean person who targets Lina and Luis, but there are a number of compensations. Lina has her friends and the team sports she adores. She delights in what she learns in science class, although she struggles in English class (coincidentally, her father is an English teacher, leading to conflicts). In fact, Lina's problems with academics have serious consequences that lead her to play more of a role she calls being a Hollywood extra --- an insignificant character who is forgettable instead of the sports star and leader role she has enjoyed in the past. However, Lina's struggles in school also lead ultimately to her contemplation, resolution and redemption.

Lina is a likable and realistic main character to whom readers can easily relate. The plot maintains a nice pace, and while Lina has several problems and issues to work through, these subplots never overwhelm or confuse. Spanish proverbs open each chapter, along with their translations --- a delightful addition to a story filled with interesting tidbits of Latin culture. CONFETTI GIRL is a satisfying and enjoyable read.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Joyous Tex-Mex Celebration of Growing Up! November 6, 2010

By M. Lee

Format:Paperback

As a mother who screens everything her 11-year-old daughter reads, I loved "The Confetti Girl" by Diana Lopez for giving us a peep into a slice of American culture (Tex-Mex)that we would otherwise know little about. Even though we live in Southern California and have a number of Hispanic friends, much of what Diana Lopez talks about in "The Confetti Girl" is only what we hear by way of parking lot chit-chat or in stories from dairies written by girls living during the time of the siege of the Alamo (!): myself, I loved the inclusion of dichos in the chapter titles, the how-to in the making of cascarones in the start of the book, and the full listing of dichos at the end of the book. My only word of caution is to those who might be inspired to make wedding cascarones after reading this book: use bird seed instead of rice! Otherwise, the book is a lovely celebration of what it means to be an American girl of Hispanic heritage, and easily enjoyed by those who are not. In the words of said daughter:

"The book, `The Confetti Girl', by Diana Lopez is as colorful as the cascarones Lopez writes about.

"Apolonia `Lina' Flores is best friend to boy-crazy Vanessa; a science lover (although her dad thinks she likes English just because he does); a sock enthusiast; daughter of a widower and in love with Luis, a stuttering, cute, funny, smart boy who is very good at singing. Like cascarones, hollowed eggshells filled with a bright rainbow of confetti, Lina is many different colors in an eggshell. The book was very interesting in showing how Lina's life goes up and down through all her teenage troubles....

"My favorite part of the book was when Lina, Vanessa and Lina's dad got lost looking for whooping cranes for Lina's science project and Lina saved the day by making a compass out of a magnet and a paper clip. It was funny and, to me, really showed that Lina's love for science is genuine.

"I think that this book should be read by people of all ages. I give it five confetti-filled stars for Lina, the humor of her problems, the honesty of her thoughts, the sadness of her not having a mom and the cover." Read more ›