Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

Love Gabi's voice, honest and saucy and so teen-friendly. She's a college-aspiring high school senior coping with best-friend drama, a traditional mother, boys and a meth-addicted dad. She also finds an affinity for poetry and expressing herself through it. This is "Catcher in the Rye" for Mexican-American girls but girls of all persuasions will find so much that resonates in Gabi's story. A must-read and game-changer! (Lib notes: fallout from a rape, abortion, mentions of drinking and drug use especially Gabi's dad.)

I read this book because a review of it was "in progress" during Banned Books Week 2022 in my racist, radical right-wing rural Republican school district, that had already banned Out of Darkness by another Latina author, for "sexually explicit content." I remember ordering Gabi, A Girl in Pieces in e-book format for my state university library's curriculum collection (used by future teachers) because it won the 2015 William C. Morris Award for Debut Young Adult Fiction.

Gabriela "Gabi" Hernandez is a slightly-chubby Mexican-American high school senior in southern California. The book is her diary/journal, and covers a 10.5 month period from a month before senior year starts, through graduation.
The book opens with Gabi dealing with one show more best friend (Cindy) who's just found out she's unintentionally pregnant, and another best friend (Sebastian) who is gay and, after coming out to his parents, is kicked out of his home by his father. Gabi has family problems too. Her father is a meth addict, her 16-year-old brother gets arrested for tagging, her hypocritical ultra-religious aunt lives with the family, and her overbearing mother is also pregnant. Throw in date rape, another classmate getting an abortion, teens contemplating sex (and condoms), and dating dilemmas, and you've got plenty here to rile the "Christian" nationalists.

This book reminded me SO much of my own high school journal and letters to my pen pal (Gabi writes letters she never sends, to her dad and others). Similar angst - I'm too fat, does that boy like me, fretting about academics, and so on. Like Gabi, I found solace in my writing (like her, some poetry too), and I think the journal format creates an honesty that many readers will be able to relate to.

So what happened with this book in my local school libraries? Apparently, this book made it through the challenge process (although why it did and Out of Darkness did not is beyond me). As of this writing, the book is still on the shelves and available in the high school library. I borrowed the copy I read from the local public library's young adult section. After I return it, it will be interesting to see if it stays there or, like Out of Darkness, gets moved to the adult section. show less

While this did remind me of Real Women Have Curves (without the corny bits) and...I dunno...a thing I'll discuss in a spoiler that I am not sure is a thing, I love Gabi so dang much. The tone felt so authentic, like I was reading my own journal from senior year of high school, and even though some of her problems stemmed from grappling with a Mexican cultural heritage, her struggles are so universal to so many women reaching adulthood. I wish I had read books like this--books that delve way into consent, rape culture, body positivity, and women's hormones and urges that are OK--throughout my teens and 20s. At the very least, I would have felt less alone and powerless. At best, I might not have put up with some awful situations I went show more through. Also, she loves Steinbeck, so yeah.

The situation I'm still mulling over is when Gabi beats up German for raping Cindy. On the one hand, the way that entire ordeal went--everything from how Cindy finally had the courage to say something even to her closest friends, how Gabi processed it, how the school dealt with it, how Cindy reacted to Gabi's actions--was absolutely believable and, in many ways, pretty positive in terms of setting an example for how girls in real life might handle a similar situation. I don't know what it would have been like to experience this as a teen, but as an adult, having unfortunately been in Cindy's shoes, part of me *wishes* some of my best girlfriends would have been so supportive, and part of me is so mad that German still gets off scot-free. Yes, it's totally real life--of course Cindy has every right to her feelings, and yeah, boys and men almost never face any real consequences for their actions--but I can't wait for the day when women don't have to carry the burden of shame and physical and emotional scars for being victims of rape...in novels and in the real world. show less

Gabi has a lot on her plate for a high-school senior: one of her best friends is pregnant, the other just get kicked out of the house when he came out to his parents, Gabi's dad is on meth, her brother is getting into trouble, and her mom keeps reminding her that she could stand to lose a few pounds. Plus, she's got a crush on a guy, and she needs to find a way to pass Algebra II or she won't be able to get into Berkeley. Despite all this drama, Gabi retains her sense of humor and her zest for life as she navigates her senior year. This may sound like just another YA problem novel, but Gabi's distinctive and humorous voice keeps it from going too far over the edge. Readers will find themselves rooting for Gabi all the way -- I know I did!

Cinco Puntos Press has published another delightful read: Isabel Quintero’s Gabi, A Girl in Pieces. To paraphrase their mission statement, this most certainly is “a book that will make a difference in the way you see the world.” While this book is listed as a young adult title, it’s wonderful reading for anyone who can appreciate a tale of friendship, self-acceptance, and hope.

Gabi is a high school senior with dreams of attending U.C. Berkeley and juggling her own concerns and those of the people around her. There’s her father, a meth addict; her mother who’s dubious about Gabi’s academic aspirations and all too ready to launch into the “keep your legs together” lecture; her best friend Cindy is pregnant; her other show more best friend, Sebastian, is gay; her brother has become a tagger; and her Tía Berta has taken on a fundamentalist Christianity that views Catholicism as near paganism.

The wonderful thing about this book is that it never turns into a “problem novel.” Yes. there’s a lot going on in Gabi’s life and the lives of those around her, but it’s Gabi’s emerging sense of self that carries the book. She is smart, a poet who publishes her first ‘zine and participates in her first coffee house open mic nights. She knows she’s interested in sex, despite her mother’s warnings. At times she frets about being overweight, but never lets these worries stand between her and a good carne asada taco.

This book could be a quick read, but I found myself reading it slowly, enjoying Gabi’s company. I want to introduce her to so many of the young women (and many of the older ones) in my life. Because the book is presented as Gabi’s journal, readers have the pleasure of seeing into her heart, watching her wrestle with the challenges of day-to-day life. We share in her frustrations, her successes—and those odd moments that seem a combination of both. While she may feel at times like a girl in pieces, Gabi is a remarkable young woman whose honesty and reflectiveness keep her whole.

Keep an eye out for this book and check out the YA section, even if that isn’t what you usually do. You will want to meet Gabi—I promise—and will want to share her with others. show less

What a stunning debut for teens! Girls of all ages and walks of life will appreciate this blunt and honest glimpse into the life of a teenage girl that is just trying hard to get by. It's hard for Gabi, on overweight girl with an overbearing Mexican mother, sullen brother, meth addicted father, pregnant best friend, and another one that's gay. Is it too much for life to be normal? She brilliantly narrates her "over-dramatic life" in this diary and fills it with poetry, letters, and daily observations. Trying to accept your family, navigate boys, feel good about yourself and your heritage, and figure out the future are just some of the things she touches on. It's laugh out loud funny and brutally insightful. A must read for teenage girls show more or really anyone. This book was just fantastic! show less

What's not to love about GABI, A GIRL IN PIECES? Not much that I can think of. This new book by Isabel Quintero is sassy, funny, heart-felt, heartbreaking, hearwarming, and unputdownable. I love Gabi Hernandez, the protagonist, not for her self-deprecating humor, but for her willingness to grow past it. I loved her honesty, as she struggles with some pretty tough stuff, from being the "fat girl" to her best friend's unwanted pregnancy to her dad being a meth addict. It's not that she takes it in stride, but that she takes it, and survives it, and does it in style.

Gabi Hernandez is starting her senior year with a lot on her plate. Aside from the aforementioned drama, one of her besties has just come out to his family is gay, and he's show more been kicked out of his house. She's trying to figure out how to find a guy to kiss, and as soon as she gets someone to like her, he turns out to be kind of a weirdo. And while she's kicking butt in her poetry class, that class is forcing her to confront her issues with her family. Her mom is never shy about telling Gabi to drop a few pounds, which means shopping for a prom dress sounds like the absolute worst. Plus, if she flunks Algebra II again, her chances of getting into her dream school -- Berkley -- are down the drain.

With a voice that is reminiscent of A.S. King and Hannah Moskowitz, written in journal format and sprinkled with Gabi's poetry, this is definitely the kind of book that fans of fearless, "edgy" YA will devour. show less