Dear Diary,
There are a few things I want to get off my chest. I have a few things that drive me loco.
1. Lazy people(see mi ama, my drunkle, and my big brother)
2. Teenage boys (see the boy from the pet store with eyes that make you just want to... sorry went off on a tangent)
3. People who don't take advantage of a good education (see everyone in my neighborhood)
I will express more later mi ama is yelling Sonia..Ayudame, Spanish for Sonia help me keep being lazy!
Sonia
Dear Diary,
Okay, I'm back well let me tell you the real story about my life. I am an American born to immigrant parents, well not so immigrant, they're both here illegally. Anyway, mi papi tells me to never stoop to their level, meaning I could become an uneducated lazy person, but I am more so I need to do more. Mi ama is pregnant again with twins, a boy and a girl. My big brother Rodrigo smokes marijuana, drinks beer, and has dropped out of school to never return. My drunkle, better known as my drunk uncle, has made advances towards me and looks at me like... it's scary. He comes back and froth, I don't want him around at all. All he does is drink and complain.
Then there's mi papi I love him so much he makes me happy to be a Mexican woman. He works three jobs everyday. He brings home his money and takes care of all of us. I'm not going to tell him about my drunkle. I don't want to lose him. He is such an honorable man that anyone hurting his only daughter would hurt him. That will be my little secret.
There is also this boy who is so smooth he makes me sick, but he smiles this smile and his eyes dance. I can't fall in love, that's how girls in my neighborhood get in trouble. I am going to college, no matter what. Even if I have to stay up to two in the morning to finish my homework. I have many more secrets to tell, but not all of them need to be told right now, be patient just wait.
Sonia
The Secret Life of Sonia Rodriguez is a marvelous coming of age story especially for teenage girls who are experiencing the pressures of family life and future life. Sonia has many plans and none of them include the typical life of a Mexican girl in her neighborhood. She refuses to stoop to the level of others.
Her refusal to go along to get along lands her in Mexico with her grandmother and cousin the summer leading to her Junior year in high school. Sonia makes the most of her time with Abuelita and her cousin. Sonia heeds their advice and begins to make changes in her heart. Sonia is becoming the woman she needs to be to go where she wants to go. Sonia experiences many challenges some of them include family conflict with her future endeavors, as well as, a blossoming relationship. Alan Sitomer does an excellent job of giving us a play by play of life for Sonia and a view to the secrets that hold Sonia in this perpetual state of despair. This book is surely an easy book for teenagers to connect to.
Sonia's experiences are relatable, entertaining, and enlightening without being to overwhelming.
10 comments:
Wow! What a great review. Thanks so much for the kind words -- I am THRILLED you liked my book. It's really hit a nerve with lots of readers so far. Keep up the great reviews... I loved the way you pulled this one off.
Best,
Alan Sitomer
This text sounds really relatable to both high school kids as well as students in junior high. I find with a lot of coming of age novels that although they are intriguing, they are not completely suitable for the junior high age. Actually from reading your review it reminded me a lot of The House on Mango Street, which says a lot because that is an amazing novel.
So is the whole book based on journal entries? This might be a great suggested reading book for a class--I can't think of many other books out there written from the perspective of a Mexican-American teenage girl, even though there are many of them in the high school population!
The Diary entries were my idea to keep the review interesting but also to tell how the main character feels and what she is going through as a teenager in her community and her culture.The book flows perfectly and Sonia narrates the beginning of the story by allowing us to enter into her secret life
The exceptionally creative way you did the diary review strikes me that you should tackle writing yourself. It was well executed, gripping and totally spot-on.
And yes, I wrote the book for my Latina girls who are dying to see themselves better reflected in the books we are asking them to read in school.
Best,
Alan Sitomer
I totally thought of House on Mango Street too, Heather! I like how this book gives a voice to a population that is rarely heard. I would love to include this book in my classroom, if not in the curriculm, for sure on an independent reading list.
Does this book incorporate spanglish? I do enjoy the idea of more latina girls being represented because I find that they are usually forgotten. However, I do tend to have a problem with the stereotypes of latina women.
As a latina I'd like to see more women being depicted as hard workers that don't have to accept stereotypes as the norm. That is to say that I am sure that I have a lot going against me as a first generation immigrant but I like to think of my life as my own personal battle and not a battle to avoid pregnancy and drunk uncles. I must say that this book is something I would probably read but still I find it interesting that Latina girls are depicted as so troubled. It sounds corny but I'd like to read a book where a latina girl is just an interesting girl, not an anomaly in her culture.
I agree with Heather I can see House on Mango Street in this book. The book does well on touching on the subject of different cultures. I love how you reviwed the book with the journal entries.
Kudos on not one, but two posts from the author!
Priscilla--thanks for your comment--I hear you, and I think you make a persuasive case....maybe Alan will take up this idea in his next book?
Peace,
TP
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