Book #64: Once Upon a Quinceanera: Coming of Age in the USA

Title: Once Upon a Quinceanera: Coming of Age in the USA
Author: Julia Alvarez

I must admit, I had never even heard of a quinceanera (a celebration of womanhood, usually taking place on or near a Hispanic girl's fifteenth birthday) until about five years ago. I went to high school with lots of Latinas (predominantly Puerto Ricans), and although my Jewish friends were getting bar and bat mitzvahed all over the place, I don't recall any of my Latina friends having Quinceaneras. Or maybe I just wasn't invited. In Once Upon a Quinceanera, Julia Alvarez explores the root tradition of quinceaneras, takes the reader through one girl's celebration, discusses the issues of materialism and sexism and cultural adaptation inherent in the celebration, looks at the at-risk-ness of Hispanic girls, and talks a lot about her own experience of growing up as a Latina.

I first picked up Once Upon a Quinceanera because I've read several of Julia Alvarez's works in the past, and really enjoyed them. Everything I've read before has been either a memoir or a novel, based on her life. I was excited to read this book, because as a work of non-autobiographical non-fiction, I thought I'd get to see her tackle a subject other than herself. I now think she's incapable of talking about someone other than herself. For the first few chapters, I got what I expected to get-- an explanation of the celebration, the reasons behind the celebration, interviews with quinceaneras, their families and the behind-the-scenes people. But then the book turned into (once again) Alvarez's own story. It was an interesting story, but not necessarily one that belonged in this book.