Estrella's Quinceañera

Estrella is about to turn 15. Her mother and aunt are feverishly planning her quinceanera, a party that Estrella dreads. She would much rather leave behind the old Estrella of the barrio and celebrate with her new friends at the private school she attends on scholarship. She reconnects with a boy from her childhood and falls for him but between her father and her private-school friends, she conceals her friendship with Speedy. Caught between her new school life and the familiarity of the barrio, Estrella learns that pleasing everyone isn't as important as standing up for herself.

This is just a light-hearted book about a young (15 year-old) Mexican girl (Estrella) who is coming to grips with her identity. She feels like she lives in the barrio with the typical "from the homeland" parents, but she attends a posh "white" high school on academic scholarship. She battles over who she is and who she thinks she wants to be as the two cultures in her life come together. I believe the book would be enjoyed by most young latina girls. It personally left me feeling good about myself and who I am.

For me, this book was ok. I've heard that it is based largely on the author's personal experience, and therefore the details of the story are, I'm sure, entirely unique. It's one of several smart-kid-from-the-bad-neighborhood-goes-to-private-school-and-learns-to-love-her-culture stories that my students just love, love, love. In fact, the 8th grade girls at my school can't get enough of this book, which is a great recommendation for it. I found it a little less compelling probably because I've read Cuba 15, which is quite a similar story. It's also a bit like the movie Real Women Have Curves, in the sense that the girl is trying to find her way in two different worlds.

Estrella is about to turn 15 and while she doesn't want a big quinceanera, it is a HUGE deal to her mother and aunt. She's torn between her private school life and her life in the barrio. The split in her life reminded me a bit of Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Cute, light, happy coming-of-age story.

This is a very quick read and should engage girls who live in an urban and Latino setting. Many of the girls in our school will love this story of Estrella and her upcoming Quinceanera. The story takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area where Estrella has just entered a prestigious private school. She is thrilled that she has been accepted and now has a new group of friends. However, with her upcoming party she feels she is being pulled between a group of old friends and her new friends who may not understand the importance of the party from a heritage standpoint and consider it old fashioned. I think it will be very easy for all middle school girls to be able to identify with Estrella and all her “friend” problems. There is a show more glossary at the end of the book to help those who don’t know all the Spanish references. This was a great book to read and share with young girls. My 6th grader read this book faster than any mystery (her previous favorite genre). I was thrilled to see her engaged with girl issues. She was extremely anxious to discuss the book and share her opinions about Estrella’s “emotional “roller” coaster ride on the way to her Quinceanera. There are wonderful lessons on culture and ethnic identity to be learned all with peer pressure. The humor keeps all the topics light and heavy like a lecture. This will be a very popular addition to our library with our large Latino population. show less

This is a YA book that my Mexican American students loved. It's good, if you're a 14-year old Mexican American girl.

this book is about a girl her name is estrella thats going to have a quinceanera party but she dont want the party she doesnt want a big party at all but her mother told her that it was tradition then she gave estrella some invitations so she could invite her friends n estrellas mom invited her ex friend izzy and estrella didnt like that, izzy was on her party and then both of them were cursing each other like izzy told estrella to go with her rich bitch private school friends. so then estrella was like "my stomack is hurting" and then time past, and estrella was having some fun she thought it was going to be a disaster but when time past it was going pretty good and she liked the way her party was.estrella couldnt believe how good it show more was going so she had to take some deep breaths because she was nervous n surprised of everything but she totally did maked it to all the party she was happy and joyful she liked it that she thanked her mom and grabed her from her arms and congratulate her mom for doing her quinceanera party and at the end she was glad to have her party and she enjoyed it and said this day couldnt be more perfect. show less