Gabi, a Girl in Pieces
Description
William C. Morris Award for YA Debut Novel, American Library Association (ALA)
Best Books of the Year, School Library Journal
Best Books, Booklist
Amelia Bloomer Project - Feminist Task Force, American Library Association (ALA)
Top 10 List, Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers, American Library Association (ALA)
Best Fiction for Young Adults, American Library Association (ALA)
Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens, Capitol Choices
In this groundbreaking William C. Morris Award winner for a YA debut, Gabi's life is a mess--her family, her friends, her attempts at a love life--but writing helps, especially since it turns out she's pretty good at poetry.
Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year of high school in her diary: college applications, Cindy's pregnancy, Sebastian's coming out, the cute boys, her father's meth habit, and the food she craves. And best of all, the poetry that helps forge her identity.
July 24
My mother named me Gabriella, after my grandmother who, coincidentally, didn't want to meet me when I was born because my mother was unmarried, and therefore living in sin. My mom has told me the story many, many, MANY, times of how, when she confessed to my grandmother that she was pregnant with me, her mother beat her. BEAT HER! She was twenty-five. That story is the basis of my sexual education and has reiterated why it's important to wait until you're married to give it up. So now, every time I go out with a guy, my mom says, "Ojos abiertos, piernas cerradas." Eyes open, legs closed. That's as far as the birds and the bees talk has gone. And I don't mind it. I don't necessarily agree with that whole wait until you're married crap, though. I mean, this is America and the 21st century; not Mexico one hundred years ago. But, of course, I can't tell my mom that because she will think I'm bad. Or worse: trying to be White.
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About the Author
Isabel Quintero is an award-winning writer from the Inland Empire of Southern California. She is also the daughter of Mexican immigrants. In addition to Gabi, A Girl in Pieces, she has also written a chapter book series for young readers, Ugly Cat and Pablo; a non-fiction YA graphic biography, Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide, which received the Boston Globe Horn Book Award; and a picture book, My Papi Has a Motorcycle. Isabel also writes poetry and essays. Her work can be found in The Normal School, Huizache, The Acentos Review, As/Us Journal, The James Franco Review, and other publications.
Reviews
* Readers won't soon forget Gabi, a young woman coming into her own in the face of intense pressure from her family, culture and society to fit someone else's idea of what it means to be a good girl. A fresh, authentic and honest exploration of contemporary Latina identity. -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* Reading Quintero's debut is like attending a large family fiesta: it's overpopulated with people, noise, and emotion, but the overall effect is joyous. -- Booklist, starred review
* Quintero's first novel quickly establishes a strong voice and Mexican-American cultural perspective through the journal of intelligent, self-deprecating, and funny Gabi. -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* Believing she's not Mexican enough for her family and not white enough for Berkeley, Gabi still meets every challenge head-on with vulgar humor and raw honesty... A refreshing take on slut- and fat-shaming, Quintero's work ranks with Meg Medina's Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass (Candlewick, 2013) and Junot Diaz's Drown (Riverhead, 1996) as a coming-of-age novel with Latino protagonists. -- School Library Journal, starred review
* Gabi's voice, as expressed in her diary through poetry, prose, lists, and overheard conversations, is funny, smart, full of wonder, and brutally honest. -- VOYA Magazine, starred review
Gabi's voice is a completely bicultural and bilingual voice, so throughout the novel, you will have Spanish and English the way it's really spoken in our families -- it's this crazy sort of Spanglish mix. And she's bold. She will say the quote-unquote unthinkable things about her body, about sexuality, about the crazy, dual sets of rules for Latino boys and girls. -- NPR
Meet Quintero's fat girl Gabi, eating and starving and fighting and writing her way through the crushing pressures of high school boy desire, religious approval and Mexican cultural taboos. I cannot think of any book today for young adults as voracious, bold, truthful and timely. -- Juan Felipe Herrera, Poet Laureate of California
William C. Morris Award for YA Debut Novel, American Library Association (ALA)
Best Books of the Year, School Library Journal
Best Books, Booklist
Amelia Bloomer Project - Feminist Task Force, American Library Association (ALA)
Top 10 List, Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers, American Library Association (ALA)
Best Fiction for Young Adults, American Library Association (ALA)
Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens, Capitol Choices
Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, Texas State University College of Education
Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College
California Book Award Gold Medal Winner, Young Adult Fiction, The Commonwealth Club
