Confetti Girl, Diana Lopez

I’ve finally had the chance to dig into a few of the ARCS I brought home from ALA Midwinter a little more seriously. This one, with its bright cover and promising premise of Latino cultural influences struck me as one worth digging into early, and I am glad I did!

Confetti Girl follows a few months in the life of Corpus Christi native Apolonia Flores — Lina, for sure — an energetic 8th grader with a sock obsession who loves to play sports (particularly volleyball, since she was born with the height of the whooping crane). Lina’s life turned upside down a bit more than a year ago due to the unexpected death of her mother from illness. Since then, home life has not been the same. Lina finds her father retreating into books, piling and shelving them throughout the house, and spending all his free time outside work reading. As he retreats further into his fictional worlds, he presses Lina to read and delve into those worlds, as well. She lacks the interest, as is reflected in her declining grades and ultimate suspension from the basketball and soccer seasons. Lina is much more interested in science than literature.

Vanessa is Lina’s best friend. Together, they share many enjoyable times, secrets, and perhaps most enjoyably, an obsession with boys. Vanessa finds herself attached to Carlos, which ultimately leads to many issues of commitment with Lina; fortunately for Lina, she finds herself pairing up with Luis, a dorky boy who has a bit of a stuttering problem. Like Lina, Vanessa also resides in a one parent household, living with her mother who is obsessed with making cascarones, wearing over-sized clothing, and thriving off the drama of the latest lifetime films. Her mother and father divorced, and her father moved out and began dating another woman. Since that event, Vanessa’s mother has filled her house with man-anger and confetti egg creation.

Lina’s grades begin slipping, and her daily quizzes on Watership Down have become a psychological assessment, borne from her wildest imagination. With a father to worry about and sports, as well as boys, why would Lina spend her time reading about a bunch of silly rabbits anyway? This action, of course, leads to her English teacher to recommend her to the school counselor, who uses these quizzes to help Lina work through some of the challenges she has had dealing with the death of her mother and distancing of her father.

Of course, no story about two girls with single parents would be complete without the belief that their parents would get together. Although it seems inevitable, I’ll leave it to you to read the story and see exactly how that relationship plays out. And of course, Lina and Vanessa’s puppy love moments are adorable, and Lina’s first kiss to Luis is well-done and aww-inspiring.

What stands out about Confetti Girl is the Latino influence in the story. Each chapter begins with a dicho (a Spanish lesson statement written both in Spanish and in English), each of which tie into the chapter and then tie into the greater picture of who Lina and her family are. The value and emphasis on family and heritage are great within the story, as are the cultural elements. The book features a quinceanara scene that was described well enough for the young readers of the story who either fantasize about theirs or who will never experience one but may have heard of them. And the cascarones with which Vanessa’s mom spends her days are a tradition that many young (and older!) readers likely do not know about and which play a central and sweet role in the development of not only Lina and Vanessa, but both their parents and their sometimes tumultuous lives.

For the most part, the story is fluid and does a solid job of developing a character who seeks family and understanding of what happened to her without over sentamentalizing or creating a problem character. Lina and Vanessa, as well as Carlos and Luis, are definitely true-to-age 8th graders. Their social challenges are humorous, and though the book delves into some tough issues, the writing is light and often funny.

Like many books of this ilk, the adults throughout the story are dolts; while this gets a little silly for an adult reading it and understanding why they are that way, this is precisely the mentality of readers this age and is funny. This stood out to me in the story particularly when Lina asks her father if she can spend some time with Luis, and her father says yes, only if she gives Luis “this card.” The card was for a local speech pathologist who Luis ultimately visits and gets tremendous help from. However, I found this rushed and a little out of place, but since this comes from the perspective of Lina, it is clear it makes sense in her mind and would make sense in the mind of the reader. Adults operate elsewhere, and the whys and hows are not central to the story.

Confetti Girl is a clean, sweet, and approachable book for readers age 8-14. It is a story of growing up and of family and friendship. It introduces readers to great Latino cultural elements without inundating them with what could be trite or meaningless ideas and things. Lopez can balance the story with the setting and the culture. The cast of quirky but realistic charactes are relatable and pretty amusing. This is definitely a book reluctant readers would likely enjoy because it offers real characters and real situations without moralizing or without focusing on the deeper meanings and problems of the situation. More advanced readers would enjoy that they can delve deeper and see how the threads throughout the book, including the cascarones and Watership Down, tie at the end.

I’m excited to see how readers react when this book hits book stores and libraries in June 2009. This is Lopez’s first book for younger readers, and I think it will likely NOT be her last. The book targets younger readers than I normally read, but she may convince me it’s worth reading even the more junior novels. I would NOT be surprised if this is up for a Schneider Family Award from ALA next year and join the ranks of Leslie Conner’s Waiting for Normal — another junior novel definitely worth checking out. Kudos!

Also, how cool is it that Diana Lopez links to my review from her website? Thanks, Diana!