Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz: A Quinceañera Club Novel (Quinceanera Club) [Paperback]

Belinda Acosta (Author)

Book Description

Series: Quinceanera Club | Publication Date: August 11, 2009

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...



"Belinda Acosta's Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz delivers all its title promises and more: it's a book about damas of all ages, from teenage girls to the struggling mothers of those teenage girls; it's packed with drama so you don't want to stop reading; it's a novel that deeply and honestly tells the story of Ana Ruiz, her own coming of age as a woman and as a mother. Belinda Acosta is up to all of the challenges of such a rich panorama of characters and events. She's sassy, she's smart, she makes it look easy! But it takes a lot of hard work and a pile of talent to write such an engaging, touching book. A wonderful quinceañera of a novel!"
--- Julia Alvarez, author of Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA and Return to Sender



"Lively and perceptive... Acosta empathically captures the innermost feelings of her characters."
--- Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Belinda Acosta's Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz delivers all its title promises and more: it's a book about damas of all ages, from teenage girls to the struggling mothers of those teenage girls; it's packed with drama so you don't want to stop reading; it's a novel that deeply and honestly tells the story of Ana Ruiz, her own coming of age as a woman and as a mother. Belinda Acosta is up to all of the challenges of such a rich panorama of characters and events. She's sassy, she's smart, she makes it look easy! But it takes a lot of hard work and a pile of talent to write such an engaging, touching book. A wonderful quinceañera of a novel!" (Julia Alvarez, author of Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA and Return to Sender )

"Lively and perceptive... Acosta empathically captures the innermost feelings of her characters." (Booklist )

"Simply put, Belinda !se aventó! She has gone all out in giving an emotional, spiritual, and feminine Latina perspective of how it is and what it is to grow up in the US Hispanic culture." (Examiner.com )

"Well written, effortlessly utilizing two languages, giving the unaware English reader a lesson in the Spanish language and Hispanic culture, Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz will prove to be "the first prick into the cloth to embroider something big and complicated" in a series of Quinceañera Club Novels. Big, yes! Complicated, only in the sense that cultures are intricate as humans are wondrous beings, as well as curious." (Examiner.com )

"[Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz] is a book that smartly and deftly explores questions of family relationships as well as cultural identity....Belinda [Acosta] seamlessly weaves Spanish and Spanglish into her prose, giving the novel a lively and authentic voice." (ShelfLife@Texas, The University of Texas )

"Acosta perceptively delves into the turmoil in which this family finds itself by examining it from multiple viewpoints.... Celeste's quinceañera becomes the glue that holds this family together as she discovers the loving support group she never knew she had." (Booklist on SISTERS, STRANGERS, AND STARTING OVER )

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.

Acosta received a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from The University of Texas in 1997. She lives in Austin, Texas and is the TV and media columnist for The Austin Chronicle.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 Original edition (August 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044654051X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446540513
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,119,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's all about the drama, August 17, 2009

By 

K. Herbrand - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz: A Quinceañera Club Novel (Quinceanera Club) (Paperback)

I have been having a hard time trying to figure out how to sum this story up - so sorry if it comes out sounding a little disjointed.

Ana is coping with her husband, Esteban's unfaithfulness and the fact that he has moved out. Her 14-year-old daughter, Carmen, blames her for making her dad leave, when in reality - he is the one who moved out. Ana is trying to protect her daughter and her son, Diego, from their father's affair. When she sees the above ad, she decides that Carmen needs a traditional quinceañera - not so much for the tradition - but because she thinks it will help her and Carmen become close again.

Beatriz, Ana's niece, jumps in to help with the planning - even designing the dresses that Carmen and the damas will wear. She is living with Ana and her kids as her own father is traveling for business and her mother is in a mental hospital - a fact that Beatriz is having to come to terms with on her own.

Ana's son seems to be the calm, rational one when he is really as torn up as Carmen about his dad's leaving but feels his mom needs their support - especially after he starts hearing rumors about what his dad has done.

So, as you can see, this is a multi-layered story with Beatriz and her mom; Ana and her daughter, Carmen; and Ana herself - and the decisions she needs to make about her future with or without Esteban.

My thoughts: To be honest, I almost gave up on this book in the beginning. It had some Spanish phrases in it and I wondered how much of the meaning I was losing. But after reading a review that said the you could get enough of the gist of the Spanish phrases without knowing Spanish and still understand the book, I kept going. I am glad that I did.

I really enjoyed Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz as it portrayed not just one strong woman - Ana, but a strong 'young' woman - Beatriz, and a girl becoming a woman - Carmen. I also have a daughter turning 15 in 2 1/2 weeks so can kind of see the emotions that Carmen was experiencing - and definitely get to see the drama! (a quinceañera is a celebration for a young woman when they turn 15)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hilarious New Story, August 14, 2009

By 

Cinnamon Brown "http://ajourneyofbooks.blogsp... (Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz: A Quinceañera Club Novel (Quinceanera Club) (Paperback)

DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ: A QUINCEAÑERA CLUB NOVEL by Belinda Acosta was quite the funny and moving read. Full of moments that any mother or daughter can relate to, this story pulled at my heart while leaving me chuckling at the same time. I would highly recommend this book to any lady looking for a nice read, a good laugh and a general feeling of happiness.

All Ana wanted was a nice celebration to mark her daughter's transition into womanhood. How then, did she end up with mass chaos and destruction? The party is in shambles, her daughter hates her and the world is likely about to end. Where did she go wrong?

DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ follows the story of Ana and her daughter Carmen beginning with the day of the big party. The narrator adds quite a bit of humor as she pauses the event and takes us through the chaotic events that are about to happen. To better understand it all, before the whole party explodes, the narrator brings us back to the day that Ana first decided to throw a Quinceañera for her daughter. Of course Carmen is none too pleased, still blaming Ana for her father leaving and makes life fairly miserable.

The story leading up to the party is full of bratty teenage behavior, tender moments, hilarious moments, and an overall story that makes you think that there just might be hope for all distanced mothers and daughters out there. I found DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ to be highly entertaining and actually quite touching. This is definitely a book that earned a treasured spot on the bookshelf.

As I've mentioned, there are quite a few bits of humor thrown throughout the book. Much like the beginning, Acosta writes the story in such a way that you can pause the images in your head and shudder as you know the disaster that's about to happen. I wouldn't say that the story is necessarily predictable, but there are times when it's obvious that something is going to happen. This just made the story that much more enjoyable to me. It added to the humor aspect and then also allowed us to focus on the deeper aspects of the book such as the character's emotions and the reasons that things are happening the way they are.

Another great aspect of DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ for me was the characters. A lot of work obviously went into the creation of each of the characters, including any minor characters. I felt that the reader really got to know each person and become acquainted with them throughout the entire story. The characters were complex, adding a nice amount of depth to the story and giving us more to ponder. Acosta did a great job with this and really managed to bring her characters to life.

One great thing that I found about DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ was how much I got to learn about another culture through reading the story. Through the language and customs, Acosta seemed to stay fairly true to Ana and Carmen's culture. I imagine this would be a great read for many girls wanting to learn a little bit more outside of their own culture.

I would give DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ a much deserved five stars. The story was wonderful, the characters detailed and the pacing was just right. I would warn readers; however, that Acosta does give her characters fairly authentic dialog. Throughout the book, Spanish is used quite freely and occasionally I had to look words up to figure out what was going on. I don't think that it really detracted from the book; instead, I felt like I may have actually learned something in the process!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mothers and Daughters are the Same in Any Culture, August 12, 2009

By 

Deborah "Books, Movies and Chinese Food" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz: A Quinceañera Club Novel (Quinceanera Club) (Paperback)

I remember about 10-15 years ago, there had been an episode of that old PBS program Wonderworks that dealt with the story of a young Mexican-American girl and her quincenera. I had never heard of this celebration before so I was fascinated with the culture and the representation of what it meant. Ever since then, I've been eager to learn more. This book gives a wonderful insider's look to what goes behind the scenes of the makings of a quincenera. People seem to think it's a Hispanic version of a sweet 16 party, when in reality it involves so much more. I really liked the scene when Ana goes to the quincenera convention at the civic center and is pretty much bombarded with all types of vendors and sellers. It was almost like being at a wedding trade show. The relationship between Anna and Carmen is one that is familiar to those of all cultures. You have a mother who's trying to show the daughter that she loves her and will do anything for her. Meanwhile though the daughter constantly blames the mother for her parents' divorce and is blind to the faults of her father. My favorite character would have to be Ana's son. He's not in the book that much but he has the most compassionate personality and is the most understanding. He is protective of his mother and tries to defend her to his sister. He knows the truth about his father but due to his sister blaming their mother, he can't get her to see the light.

The author writes in "Spanglish" a mixture of English and Spanish and doesn't offer any translation for any unknown words. Thanks to my 9 years of Spanish from high school and college (I'm still not fluent though!), I was able to read without major problems. However for someone unfamiliar to the language, while it is possible to read the story without missing any major plot lines, it can be a bit difficult to pick up on little details. Perhaps maybe a glossary in the back of the book for translation might benefit the next book.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book very much. It gave a great insight into the Hispanic culture as well as giving a good mother-daughter story. If you're looking for a multi-cultural book with a dash of chick lit as well, this is the perfect book for you. I will be looking forward to reading the next book in the series!