04/01/2014
Available in English and Spanish versions, this reprint of the 2007 original, which is out of print, follows the experiences of several quinceañeras (the name for the celebrant as well as the celebration) as a lens through which to examine the experience of immigration, Latina culture, and coming of age. The author also reflects on her own experience as a Latina immigrant and as such this book remains one of the most enjoyable anthropological works on the topic, despite its age. (LJ 7/07)
In Once Upon a Quinceanera, a fascinating, exhaustively researched book about the celebration of a girl's coming of age, bestselling novelist Julia Alvarez, author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent and In the Time of the Butterflies, studies the ancient ritual that unites the U.S. Latino community and is rapidly evolving and spreading across ethnic lines…
—The Washington Post
This is not just a book for Latinas. Once Upon a Quinceañera is for all of us...especially for those of us raising daughters in America today. (Maria Hinosa, Senior Correspondent for NOW/PBS, author of Raising Raul and Crews)
A journey into experiencing a vital, exuberant ritual of modern Latino life...As an author, Alvarez is a terrific tour guide.
Though [Alvarez] brings a critical eye to long-held myths...each page is a love song to the cultural ties that bind generations of women from a diverse group of countries.
A thorough, thoughtful, and important book. . . .Bravo, Julia Alvarez. (Mary Pipher, author of The Middle of Everywhere and Reviving Ophelia)
Fascinating, exhaustively researched.
With grace and humanity, Alvarez explores the fascinating evolution of the quinceañera tradition in the United States, responding provocatively to a tradition that charms her and simultaneously clashes with feminist sensibilities. (Cristina Garcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban and A Handbook to Luck)
Alvarez's honest grappling with her caught-between-twocultures experience is compelling.
Bestselling Alvarez (Saving the World, 2006, etc.) uses the phenomenon of Sweet 15 parties for Latina girls to explore issues of . . . herself. Originally, the quincea-era was a party thrown to celebrate a girl's passage into marriageable womanhood when she turned 15, which is-or was until recently-the legal age of consent for females in much of Latin America. The parties are lavish affairs, with the dresses tending toward puffy and the ambience tending toward princessy. The specifics are extremely malleable, however, with traditions from Cuba and the Dominican Republic thrown into the Latin American mix. Like any marketable cultural phenomenon, the celebrations have been seized upon by the party industry; gown makers and planners stand ready to help parents spend thousands of dollars they don't have, while conventions and a trade magazine advise the professionals. Alvarez inserts herself into a number of quincea-eras (which she then melds into one for dramatic purposes), trying to figure out why the phenomenon has taken off in America in recent years and what it says about the Latin American experience. Unfortunately, the girls themselves are hardly illuminating: "It's like part of my culture" is a typical quote. Alvarez is no help either, using the topic of quincea-eras primarily as a creaky springboard to launch into windy, maudlin ruminations on growing up as a Dominican immigrant in Queens. With such a narcissistic narrator, it's no surprise the girls were less than forthcoming. Might appeal to those who enjoy MTV's My Super Sweet 16. Agent: Susan Bergholz/Susan Bergholz Literary Services
Praise for Once Upon a Quinceanera
“Phenomenal...indispensable. Alvarez’s novelistic eye makes Once Upon a Quinceañera an intimate, intoxicating read.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“A journey into experiencing a vital, exuberant ritual of modern Latino life...As an author, Alvarez is a terrific tour guide.”—The Seattle Times
“[Alvarez] brings a critical eye to long-held myths...Each page is a love song to the cultural ties that bind generations of women from a diverse group of countries.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Fascinating, exhaustively researched.”—The Washington Post
“Alvarez’s honest grappling with her caught-between-two-cultures experience is compelling.”—Entertainment Weekly
