Under the Mesquite
Pura Belpré Author Award Winner - American Library Association (ALA)
Lupita, a budding actor and poet in a close-knit Mexican American immigrant family, comes of age as she struggles with adult responsibilities during her mother's long illness.
As the oldest of eight siblings, Lupita is used to taking the lead-and staying busy behind the scenes to help keep everyone together. But when she discovers Mami has been diagnosed with cancer, Lupita is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican American family. Suddenly Lupita must face a whole new set of challenges, with new roles to play, and no one is handing her the script.
In the midst of juggling life as a high school student, testing her wings as an actress, and dealing with friends who don't always understand, Lupita desperately wants to support Mami in whatever way she can. While her father stays with Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she escapes the chaos of home by writing in the shade of a mesquite tree. Overwhelmed by change and loss, she takes refuge in the healing power of words.
Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey is both heart-wrenching and hopeful. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about the testing of family bonds, the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience, and the kind of love that cannot be uprooted.
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Guadalupe García McCall is the best-selling author of Summer of the Mariposas and won the Pura Belpré Award for her first novel, Under the Mesquite. She was born in Mexico and moved to Texas as a young girl, keeping close ties with family on both sides of the border. She is a full-time author and abuelita and lives with her husband in South Texas. Find her online at ggmccall.com.
* "A promising, deeply felt debut." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Like the mesquite tree of the title, Lupita is sturdy and able to survive harsh climates with great potential for recovering from stress. . . The close-knit family relationships, especially Mami and Lupita's, are vividly portrayed, as is the healing comfort Lupita finds in words, whether written in her notebooks or performed onstage." -- Booklist
"Powerful and tremendously honest. . . The titular mesquite tree serves as both a literal reference to the tree that grows among her mother's rose bushes and a metaphor for the tree's renowned adaptability and ability to reach out to find sustenance. This is ultimately a coming-of-age story of a girl who manages to build on her strengths as she copes with emotional hardship, and McCall's is a fresh new voice in Latino/a writing." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"This book will appeal to many teens for different reasons, whether they have dealt with the loss of a loved one, aspire to write and act, are growing up Mexican American, or seeking their own identity amid a large family. Bravo to McCall for a beautiful first effort." -- School Library Journal
Pura Belpré Author Award Winner - American Library Association (ALA)
ALSC Notable Children's Books - American Library Association (ALA)
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist - The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN)
Américas Award Honor - Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs
Best Children's Books of the Year - Bank Street College of Education
Best Teen Books - Kirkus Reviews
Best of the Best Books - Chicago Public Library
CCBC Choices - Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
International Latino Book Award Honor - Empowering Latino Futures
Lone Star Reading List - Texas Library Association (TLA)
Notable Books for a Global Society - International Literacy Association (ILA)
Outstanding Books for the College Bound - American Library Association (ALA)
Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award - Texas State University College of Education
William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist - Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
