For the uninitiated, the quinceañera celebrates the passage of a fifteen-year-old girl into adulthood: It's a bit bat mitzvah with a dash of debutante ball, and loaded with the same potential for hilarity and adolescent angst. In this original anthology, fifteen of the brightest and funniest Latino writers, men and women alike, share their own memories of these moving and often absurd extravaganzas—tales of that unique form of familial humiliation that is borne of the best intentions, fierce love, and the infectious joy of parents finally allowing their little girl to grow up.
Fifteen Candles
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The quinceañera celebration, with its crowds of admiring family and friends focused on a 15-year-old Latina as she officially comes of age, often evokes wistful, reverential memories—the priest's blessing, the quinceañera's court members in their elaborate matching gowns, the opening slow dance of the quince with her father. The stories in this collection, however, recall different sorts of memories: a father who's out on parole; the lesbian mother who beds her daughter's boyfriend; the horny bad boys smoking doobies in the parking lot; the drunks in tuxedos puking in the bushes; the former girlfriends catfighting on the dance floor. Instead of sentimentalizing the Hispanic family and the sacred quinceañera, these 15 authors (a third of whom are men) take off the white gloves and talk about what goes on in real families. They talk about not having a quince because their families were too poor or their mamis too liberated. They talk about dysfunctional relatives and getting wretchedly drunk at parties and falling in love with the wrong people—just like everyone else in this world. Lopez, writer and former editor of Críticas magazine, writes in her introduction that the stories she's selected are linked by humor, sadness, and a lot of self-discovery. Many readers—especially 20 or 30-somethings—will find the honesty liberating. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
In terms that vary from frank and irreverent to tender and even a little sapppy, 15 writers tell personal stories about a quinceanera, the traditional celebration that marks a Latina's fifteenth birthday. Some teens grab the chance to be a grown-up princess. In contrast, a Cuban immigrant remembers hating her party as a refugee "straitjacket"; but now she is appalled that her own daughter wants it all with lace, ruffles, and pearls. Of course, it is a coming-of-age landmark, and many remember the universals of trying to navigate the signals and subtleties, to look cute and sexy, but not like a zorra (whore). Party guests write, too, including male family members, escorts, lovers. The diversity is a big part of the fun across ethnicity, class, generation, and sexual orientation. Some want a quiet religious ceremony; some want to rent Disney World. But as Lopez points out in her great introduction, the "quinces" are having a comeback in the U.S., and however diverse, all do include the expectations, the nerves, and eventually the messy mush of memories. Rochman, Hazel
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I never thought that I was a fan of short story collections, but I have become a great fan of memoir. I really loved this collection of fifteen different coming of age stories featuring the quinceanera. The length of each story was perfect to read in one sitting, and the fact that they were tied together by the common theme of the quinceanera still made it read like a single work.
If you were a teen in the 80's like I was, you will especially appreciate many of the stories which reference this time period. Anyone who has a teen (or remembers his or her own teen years) will appreciate this stumble down the memory lane of crushes, the quest for popularity and acceptance, feeling too fat or ugly or awkward, rebelling against your parents but craving the stability of tradition.
If you were a teen in the 80's like I was, you will especially appreciate many of the stories which reference this time period. Anyone who has a teen (or remembers his or her own teen years) will appreciate this stumble down the memory lane of crushes, the quest for popularity and acceptance, feeling too fat or ugly or awkward, rebelling against your parents but craving the stability of tradition.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Dulcinea
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book thinking I could use of the stories in my classroom. Nope! It provided fairly amusing background information for me but not what I was looking for.
By C. Coronado
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you want to escape your life for a bit and laugh and cry a little, read this book! It is highly entertaining. And, it made me SUPER appreciative of my own Quinceanera, many many years ago.
