Once Upon a Quinceanera: Coming of Age in the USA

Editorial Reviews. From Publishers Weekly. Starred Review. Skillfully blending memoir and social science, Alvarez (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents).
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Once Upon a Quinceanera Coming of Age in the USA

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Latino community and is rapidly evolving and spreading across ethnic lines. The obligatory ingredients -- a family's nostalgic memories of her growing up, a priest's blessing, the "court" of friends in tuxedos and gowns, the opening dance with her father -- immerses a Latina girl in the fantasy that she is a princess, if only for one day. The ritual announces she is now old enough to shave her legs, wear makeup and heels and begin life as full-fledged woman. Monica's fiesta is far from perfect.

The parents arrive late, the limousine driver gets lost in the neighborhood, Monica almost misses the church blessing, the photographer cancels at the last minute and then shows up with what seems to be a prehistoric camera. Every chaotic moment, every misstep and catastrophe makes the event even more special to Ramos and her family, and prompts Alvarez to remember her own coming of age. A look at how the community currently uses its traditions and customs to support its young ladies, and some thoughts on what else we might do in the future.

Jul 23, Margaret Sankey rated it liked it. This is an anthropological study of Quinceanera in Hispanic-American communities in the US--what was once a signal that a young woman was available to be courted at 15 is now an opportunity to stress staying in school and grown-up plans for the future, but is also the occasion for lavish celebrations parallel to debutante balls in WASP circles with all the costuming and rituals and expense.

Alvarez clearly spent a lot of time and gained the confidence of a variety of families to get an inside This is an anthropological study of Quinceanera in Hispanic-American communities in the US--what was once a signal that a young woman was available to be courted at 15 is now an opportunity to stress staying in school and grown-up plans for the future, but is also the occasion for lavish celebrations parallel to debutante balls in WASP circles with all the costuming and rituals and expense.

Alvarez clearly spent a lot of time and gained the confidence of a variety of families to get an inside view of this process and its value in the 21st century. I picked up this book because my mother volunteers with a program in Idaho that runs career planning and college information alongside the preparations for the big party. Mar 10, Rosa rated it did not like it.

This was pure fluff! And very disappointing coming from one of my favourite authors. This read like a term paper and really wasn't worth the effort or time. It basically focuses on the 15th birthday celebrations of Latinos in USA. I got the message after the first chapter the rest was the same thing over, and over again. Give this one a miss. Jul 31, Dan rated it really liked it. Super informative and thought provoking. The writing is amazing--it's Julia Alvarez after all. Aug 19, Ashley rated it liked it Shelves: I'm not Hispanic or Latino, but accidentally marked that I was Hispanic on a standardized test once.

Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA by Julia Alvarez

I was on a mailing list for Hispanic summer camps, scholarships, and school clubs well into my sophomore year of college. This book followed the author as she spent a year attending quinceaneras, researching the underlying traditions, and reflecting on her own upbringing as an immigrant caught between two cultures - not only her Dominican Republic heritage and new American culture but also the tr I'm not Hispanic or Latino, but accidentally marked that I was Hispanic on a standardized test once. This book followed the author as she spent a year attending quinceaneras, researching the underlying traditions, and reflecting on her own upbringing as an immigrant caught between two cultures - not only her Dominican Republic heritage and new American culture but also the traditional, patriarch-centric culture of Latin America and the beginning waves of feminism in the U.

Given the latter struggle, one of the initial issues Alvarez tackled was that of the quinceanera traditionally being the way a young woman's family officially "announces" to the community that she is ready to be married and begin a family of her own. While this isn't the case anymore, there are still strong patriarchal undertones in most quinceanera ceremonies. Interestingly, many of the young women Alvarez spoke with about their pending quinceaneras spoke as a "right of passage"; Alvarez notes that rites associated with traditions have a funny way of morphing into rights as the new generations feel entitled to what older, first generations struggled to obtain for them.

Add to that the traditional "marianismo" culture that a large number of older Latina women are mired in i. Another interesting topic Alvarez explored was the concept of cultural capital, or non-monetary assets that are important for status in a community. However, many families still throw lavish quinceaneras for their daughters that are often beyond their means. Often spending on a quinceanera takes precedence over saving for her college expenses.

The book also points out that "Hispanics tend to make immediate use of their money. Capital accumulation is not a characteristic of Hispanics, especially because being wealthy has a negative connotation The definition of the latter is explained as traditions that "emerge in a less easily traceable manner within a brief and debatable period, establishing themselves with a great rapidity. Alvarez's writing style is more informal than most non-fiction books like this I've read; it feels like she's talking to me as a friend over coffee.

She intersperses the text with Spanish words and phrases, which I think added a lot of flavor and interest. And while Alvarez explained overtly or through plenty of context clues, I still had Google Translator pulled up a lot, translating it for myself. The only things that keep this book from being more than 3 stars for me is that there were some less interesting parts and the book was almost memoir-ish with Alvarez's frequent flashbacks to own coming of age. Which while it was interesting and technically fit with the topic, it also made it feel a little disjointed and messed with the flow.

Mar 01, Pam Kirst rated it really liked it. Once Upon as Quinceanara: Is Once Upon a Quinceanara: Coming of Age in the USA a memoir? She loves the way it folds the generations of Hispanic women together, grandmother, mother, daughter,--hands entwined, braiding a custom. This is about a culture and its future embedded in a larger, more vacuumous one. This is about the need of children in all cultures to have a valid rite of passage. And what IS that rite of passage? It is not just an event, although, as Alvarez attended party after party for the young ladies turning 15, she began to see their value.

Door open, though, the elders are to come through and surround and support the youngster. They are to reflect back what they see. And the young people gather those tales like scraps in a basket, and after a time, they take them home and sort them out, and use them, along with other materials they have gathered, and other dreams that they have dreamed, to weave together their own stories.

Will it be successful? The path will open up. The rite of passage as beginning of supported journey—a need for all children, but especially, as Alvarez notes, for Hispanic girls, in danger of early pregnancy, dropping out of school, drug addiction, and death by suicide. We need to re-learn the art of supporting the journey.

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It took me a chapter or two to get into this book, but then its voice took hold, and its wisdom drew me in. Apr 21, Marisa rated it liked it. Once Upon a Quinceanera is a nonfiction book written by Julia Alvarez. Julia was asked by an editor to write a book about the Latino tradition. In her book she specialized on the elaborate and ritualized parties, known as quinceaneras.

The Plot of this story was realistic, since it is a nonfiction book, and Julia Alvarez did a splendid job on helping the reader understand the comparison between the American culture and Latino culture, which helped the story make sense. The majority of the setting in Once Upon a Quinceanera takes place at a young girls quinceanera in the town of Queens. The setting of the story got a little confusing throughout the book, having Julia talk about past events in her life, and then starting on a new interview.

The People that Julia picked to interview that she wrote about, and the girls quinceaneras she observed, fit the story very well. She attended many quinceneras, but had to base her book off of one specific one. Julia picked Monica Ramos.

Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA by Julia Alvarez | BookDragon

Monica is a USA-born Latina. In the story, Monica is celebrating her quinceanera on her sixteenth birthday instead of her fifteenth birthday. She is a very pleasant young girl to be around during the story.

You can see how many friends and family members adore her throughout the story. Being a girl, it is easy to relate to Monica and the other girls Julia interviewed. Everything from their social lives at school to their relationships with their family. As you read this book, it is easy to tell that Julia is very passionate towards the tradition of quinceaneras. It is obvious that she put a lot of time into all of her interviews, traveling to different cities and states, and even helping the girls in a quincenera crisis.

She keeps positive through everything even it difficult situations. This book is suited for any young girl or a mother with a young daughter. I would recommend this book to any young girl, especially of the Latino culture. In Once Upon a Quinceanera young girls and their mothers can discover the true meaning of a quinceanera. Julia gives great advise and many facts throughout the story that can help families prepare for their daughters very own step into womanhood.

Jul 24, Laura rated it really liked it. When my husband took ESL classes at BYU-Hawaii, one gringo teacher prefaced his lesson on American essay structure by comparing it to the Asian and Latin structures and declaring the American essay superior. Eddie had problems in this class, not surprisingly. The teacher graphically represented the Latin structure as a spiral and the American structure as a flawless straight line - which I would like to argue with him over.

This book was written in true spiral format, wandering through Latin n When my husband took ESL classes at BYU-Hawaii, one gringo teacher prefaced his lesson on American essay structure by comparing it to the Asian and Latin structures and declaring the American essay superior. This book was written in true spiral format, wandering through Latin neighborhoods and Aztec tradition and Ms. Alvarez's own coming of age. I'm happy no straight lines were used.

Her back-and-forth opinion on the rite-of-passage was refreshing compared to the overconfidence with which many other books present ideas.


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I enjoyed her insights into the challenges facing young Latinas and how this tradition fits into that. I would have liked to see more examples of modern or even not-so-modern quinceaneras. It's apparent that she looked for variety but didn't find it. I wanted her to look harder! I liked what she said about adapting traditions for functionality -- having the "quinces" at 16, for example. One of my husband's uncles didn't like the "coming out" of it, but it hardly means that anymore -- though you wouldn't know it from the little dresses.

The role of the tradition has adapted. I think part of adapting traditions is dropping the bits that over-extend your budget. If 14 courtiers' dresses and tuxes are too expensive, dismiss the court. I was rolling my eyes at limos, but then I thought if it was a horse-drawn carriage, I don't know if I could tell Satan to get him behind me. I liked her feminist perspective and her call to use the quinceanera to truly empower women rather than merely give them the illusion of power for a night -- although it was unclear how she proposed to do that.

I also liked her refusal to condemn the pretty dresses and high heels as part of a patriarchal tradition. I appreciated her autobiographical inserts -- however wandering they may have been. I would have loved to take her English class! Nov 16, Anne rated it really liked it.

I have an interest in coming of age rituals and celebrations. I love birthdays, but the ones with particular meaning in different cultures and socio-economic groups hold particular interest - including bar and bat mitzvahs, Sweet Sixteens thanks to MTV for indulging this fascination , debutante balls, and the quinceanera. Recently, there seems to have been a rash of books and movies about this latin phenomenon.

In this non-fiction book by the author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Alvarez explores the quinceanera by shadowing a young girl on the brink of her quince in Queens. Alvarez explains how the tradition evolved, and what it represents to families in the United States. Alvarez does not hold back her criticism - questioning why families struggling to stay above the poverty line would go into debt for a party. Yet, she answers her own question by looking at what the attention provides to Latinas, who are among the nation's most susceptible to teen pregnancy and dropping out of high school.

Alvarez looks at how the quinceanera brings cultures together, and reminds "Americanized" youth to look back at their heritage with appreciation. She also looks at how the worshipping of material things and the need to outshine the neighbors has cheapened the tradition. Ultimately, this is not just a book about Alvarez's observations of a ritual, but also a memoir of her own life as the daughter of immigrants from the DR who never had her own quinceanera. Alvarez's perspective as a Latina in America, as well as a staunch feminist, brings a unique and powerful perspective to this fairy tale tradition.

Aug 18, Christine Henry rated it really liked it. This was a wonderful exploration of the coming of age ceremony, quinceanera, in Latino communities around the US.

Once Upon a Quinceanera: Coming of Age in the USA

Equally intriguing were the cross-cultural comparisons of other contemporary ceremonies. It inspired a lot of thought about how we convey to our young people that not only do we want to guide them, but that we value them as individuals as well as part of the next generation to carry on tradition. Most thought-provoking was the ongoing comparisons between quince celebrations in other This was a wonderful exploration of the coming of age ceremony, quinceanera, in Latino communities around the US.

Most thought-provoking was the ongoing comparisons between quince celebrations in other countries and in past generations, and the iteration becoming common in the US today. Alvarez made the evolutionary nature of culture tangible when describing the amalgamated nature of the contemporary quice, and how these ideas are now being expored back to countries where the immigrants originated, even a few generations ago.

I also came away thinking about how contemporary immigrant experiences compare with earlier waves of immigration. Some of my relatives came to the US in the late 19th century, at the time when assimilation was not only informally demanded, but was official policy in the US. So I wonder how the individual immigrant experience has changed, or has not, in the past century.

My only criticism of this book was the emphasis on Julia Alvarez's own personal story; not that it is not illustrative and interesting, but becuase the title seemed to be less autobiographical than it ended up being. But I do love to hear her personal narrative, and have enjoyed various layers of autobiography in her novels.

I just felt that there was more autobiography than was necessary to tell the story. Apr 17, Janeth rated it liked it. Julia Alvarez wrote about young Latinas quinceanera while giving the audience background about her own coming of age and life.

There are many things about her life that I can relate on.