Quinceanera Means Sweet Fifteen

by Veronica Chambers

Book Overview

Marisol and Magdalena are making plans for their quincea"era parties, their fifteenth birthday celebration that they've been waiting for their whole lives. They've promised each other that they will... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786804971
• ISBN13: 9780786804979
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Quincenera Means Sweet 15

Magdalena is Marisol's best friend.Both of them want to have a quince.Magda's famliy is rich so she is for sure she is going to have one.Marisol isn't really sure cause her mom is on a budget.My favorite character is Marisol,because liked the way she was.She wasnt all acting like a goody two-shoes.What I liked about the book is that it's a very good book and I loved the characters and the dramma between the problems.I also liked the spanish culture. I learned a little bit more about the hispanic culture. It was a joy to read.Please read this book!

Young Immigrants Featured Review

Hyperion's easy-to-read sequel to Marisol and Magdalena continues to immerse readers into the life of a sweet Latina teenager growing up in Brooklyn. Deftly, Chambers weaves in details about the language, food, values, faith, and pride of the Panamanian immigrant community. Immigrants like the Panamanians who cluster in the same neighborhood have certain advantages over those of us who grew up scattered in the suburbs. Although Marisol struggles with the abandonment of her father, I found myself envying her strong sense of identity, forged in a community that shepherds her into womanhood. She has aunts and cousins and neighbors who understand what it means to be a Panamanian-American growing up in Brooklyn. Best of all, she has a Mami who knows what she's feeling almost without a word. Unlike immigrant kids who grow up in non-immigrant communities, there's hardly any culture clash between the generations. Marisol accepts and internalizes the values of the community because they are validated all around her. She dates a Panamanian boy, accepts the Catholic faith, delights in her Latina heritage and language, and eagerly desires a quince. One wonders if Marisol and her peers will choose to separate more from their community and culture than their mothers did, eventually moving out of Brooklyn into the suburbs. Will Marisol's daughter spend hours dreaming about her quince? Maybe. Perhaps the author's point is that in tightly-knit urban immigrant communities, the tensions between a first generation of immigrants and their American-born children don't have to tear families apart.

I read it in one day!

Marisol is back from Panama. Magda and her are getting redy for their Sweet Fifteen. The door into womanhood for Latina girls. Marisol's mom,Inez,can't afford a quince. But Marisol dreams about it everyday. While this is going on Marisol's mom has a new boyfriend,which Marisol finds goofy. Another problem is about Magda hanging out with Marisa and Elizabeth(snobs) who make her shoplift. As all of this drama is going on Francisco, a juinor, talks to her after Spanish class. They make a date where she learns more about him. He's Panamanian and he doesn't know his father. At the end she gets her Quinceanera that she's been hoping for.(With Francisco as her date.) Marisol still talks about her memories in Panama and in Nueva York. Like she talks about Ruben and Ana.(Ruben her novio and Ana her amiga in the first book. This book was great. I recommend it to all girls!

Fabulous book that I wish I had when I was 15!

I try to read books that I give my goddaughter beforehand to make sure the story is worth the read and not too racy. This is the second book in the Marisol and Magdalena series, and I read it with as much fevor as the first one. I wished it was around when I was fourteen, figuring out if I wanted a quince or not! But besides the quincenera issue, the issue of growing pains between best childhood friends is very real and beleivable. Highly recommend for girls in the age range of 10-14, especially if they are hispanic (even moreso if they are Panamanian;-) ). Any adult that reads this will go right back to those uncertain days of teenagedom.