Quinceanera - Hardcover

King, Elizabeth

3.11

44 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525456384 ISBN 13: 9780525456384

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile, 1998

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Enhanced by full-color photographs, this story captures the events of one girl's special day while discussing the importance of this birthday tradition in the Latino community.

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From Booklist:

Gr. 5^-8. Like a bat mitzvah or a sweet-16 party, the quinceanera is a coming-of-age ritual, and it takes place in the context of a Latina's family and church. Its origins come from Aztec and Mexican customs transmuted through Spanish and Latino celebration. In fulsome prose, King follows and photographs two beautiful young women, Cindy Chavez and Suzi Prieto, as they prepare for turning 15. Cindy's family is from El Salvador and Suzi's from Mexico, so many of their choices for this combination party, religious event, and family festival are different, but both hold the religious part of their ceremony at the historic San Fernando Mission in California. King is careful to describe many variants on a celebration that may include a gorgeous dress, flowers, and a cake; a role for parents, godparents, friends, and classmates; and a special mass to welcome the young woman to adulthood. The photographs are so full of spectacle and genuine warmth that we feel as though we have been invited, too. Girls dreaming of their own coming-of-age parties will find lots to exclaim over. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-9-This title is available in both English and in Spanish. With an informative but at times cloying text, King describes two California quincea?era celebrations from the initial planning stages to the last dances. Accompanied by an interesting mixture of candid and posed full-color photographs, the author details the fiestas of one young woman whose family is originally from El Salvador and another who is of Mexican heritage. The origins of this coming-of-age ritual are explained in an appended note. Mary D. Lankford and Jesse Herrera's Quincea?era (Millbrook, 1994) covers much of the same ground in a shorter, less dramatic, and more readable narrative. However, King's photographs are of a higher quality than Herrera's mostly black-and-white images.
Denise E. Agosto, formerly at Midland County Public Library, TX
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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