Abstract
Reviewed by: Sweet 15 Maggie Hommel Adler, Emily . Sweet 15; by Emily Adler and Alex Echevarria. Cavendish, 2010. [240p]. ISBN 978-0-7614-5584-4 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 6-9. Destiny Lozada is a Puerto Rican, skateboarding, about-to-be fifteen-year-old, whose impending quinceañera has just made her life a lot more complicated. While she lives on New York's Upper West Side (rent-controlled apartment) and attends a private prep school (on scholarship), her family is pretty much average, and she worries that her mami' s elaborate plans for the party may break the bank. On top of this, her feminist older sister, America, who went on a hunger strike to avoid her own quinceañera, is loudly opposed to the whole tradition. After months of battles between mom and sister over the event, trying to figure out which guy should be her caballero (escort) for the occasion, and canceling then reworking the whole party, Destiny learns how to speak up and even finds potential romance. The lively text is full of pop-culture references (including frequent mentions of MTV's Sweet Sixteen) and humorous quips. Pacing gets bogged down occasionally by overexplanation, though, and the focus and tone are uneven; the characters are largely two-dimensional, with the requisite happy ending offering little surprise. Destiny's conflicted feelings about whether she should be a tomboy or a girly girl are nonetheless poignant and realistic, and readers will cheer her on as she struggles to find her voice. Adolescents looking for a current, entertaining peek at the quinceañera will not be disappointed; for more solid stories about the quince tradition, consider Alegría's Estrella's Quinceañera (BCCB 6/06) or Osa's Cuba 15 (BCCB 9/03). [End Page 469] Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Published Version
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