Fifteen Candles

May 7, 2007
T
he 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.

October 1, 2007
Adult/High School-According to Lopez, the celebration marking the passage of 15-year-old daughters from girlhood into womanhood has received a resurgence of popularity within the United States, often with families going into debt to throw lavish parties. As Cuban-American Barbara Ferrer so aptly describes the event in her story, it is the disco music and fried chicken alongside the Tito Puente and arroz con frijoles. In this compilation, 15 talented authors contribute their versions of "quinceañera" experiences that impacted their lives. Poignant, and without sentimentalization, these engaging selections, both fiction and nonfiction, will cross borders and appeal to teens interested in real-life family dramas and funny short stories that reflect a mixture of today's pop culture, ethnic identity, and coming of age in the modern world. This collection offers a memorable blend of the sweetness and pain that mark life's milestones."Jodi Mitchell, Contra Costa County Library, Orinda, CA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2014

These stories personal experiences of 15 Latino writers will speak to girls who may not see their own imperfect lives reflected in the glossy world of quinceanera magazines and advertisements. Poverty, dysfunction, drugs, and the angst of teen relationships do not disappear for the party; instead, these stories celebrate life in the midst of all its messy, tragic, funny realities.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2007
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 Latinas 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)