The Tequila Worm

Canales, Viola. 2005. THE TEQUILA WORM. New York: Random House Children's Books. ISBN 0385909055.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Viola Canales' first novel is a delightful look into the life of a young Mexican-American girl named Sofia. The men, women, and children in The Tequila Worm are drawn with great care to develop them fully into believable, easily recognizable characters. Sofia and her adoring younger sister, Lucy, live in a tidy house in a barrio in McAllen, Texas with their mother and father. The family dynamic is one of love and support for each other, their extended family, and their neighbors.

Each chapter in the book is presented as a vignette; a situation, event, or occasion that provides the reader with a peek into the lives of the characters, revealing their true natures and their feelings for each other. Colorful descriptions make the characters come alive. "Clara had a square face on top of a big round body, and the biggest eyes and the widest mouth: she was especially proud of her catfish mouth, which she painted scarlet. She wore a big black onyx tongue around her neck" (p. 1). Thus we are introduced to Clara, the storyteller in the very first chapter. The themes of strong family ties and respect and support for others flows from the day to day interactions of Sofia, Lucy, their cousin, Berta, and their parents. Once childhood rivals, Sofia and Berta grow close enough to become comadres, or "Someone who makes people into a family" (p. 5). When Sofia is given an opportunity to attend a boarding school in Austin, she gets help with her wardrobe from Berta, an accomplished seamstress. In turn, Sofia helps Berta prepare for her quinceanera.

The author sprinkles Spanish words and phrases in an unobtrusive way throughout the book to bring the barrio to life. References to the sobremesa, a time after dinner for the family to share, and the canicula, the forty days between July fourteenth and August twenty-fourth, are just two examples of this practice. The use of the Spanish words for grandmother(abuelita), waltz (vals), and witch (burja), are a few examples that add a Latin flavor to Sofia's story and enhances the barrio setting.

Strong family ties, and a solid grounding in the barrio community, give Sofia the courage to attend boarding school far from home, endure discrimination and bullying, cope with the death of her father, and aspire to college and law school.

AWARDS

Pura Belpre Award 2006

ALA Notable Books for Children 2006

PEN Center USA West Literary Awards 2006

REVIEW EXCERPTS

"Readers of all backgrounds will easily connect with Sofia as she grows up, becomes a comadre, and helps rebuild the powerful, affectionate community that raised her." - Booklist

"Touching on elements of mysticism but never allowing conventions or symbols to detract from her characters, Canales creates a delightfully stirring first novel." - Voice of Youth Advocates

BOOK HOOK

>Visit the blog, Latina YA, at http://latinaya.blogspot.com to learn more about literature for young Latinas including author biographies, book reviews, and discussion groups.

>Learn more about Mexican-American customs, like the quinceanera, the Day of the Dead celebration, and the Christmas nacimiento. Compare these with similar practices in Western, European, African and other cultures.

My Heartbeat

Freymann-Weyr, Garret. 2003. MY HEARTBEAT. New York: Penguin Group (USA), Inc. ISBN 0142400661.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS

My Heartbeat is a character-driven story about a fourteen-year-old girl, her family, and her first crush. Ellen McConnell's life is comfortable and secure. She lives in New York City with her parents and her older brother, Link. Her parents are busy, hard-working, successful people who want the best for their children. The McConnells support their children's interests and activities and work hard to provide advantages like special classes for Link, the family math genius. Ellen's father nurtures her mind by suggesting books for her to read. She believes that he is a frustrated teacher at heart. Ellen is introspective and prefers to socialize with Link and his best friend, James. They rollerblade, read books, play backgammon, and watch foreign films with subtitles. She makes it a point to be unobtrusive so that they will accept her participation.

Although she is a solid student in school, her parents are told that, "Ellen exhibits an unwillingness to form any firm social attachments" (p. 22). She resolves to make a fresh start when she moves up to Cedar Hill prep school and makes an attempt to socialize with the other girls. Conversations with her classmates usually revolve around James and Link and her close proximity to them. One day Ellen is taken aback when Laurel says that her sister Polly, "thinks it's too obvious he (James) doesn't have time for girls"(p. 26). Ellen has a fierce crush on James, but is aware that at times Link and James do act like a couple. As the story progresses, each teen struggles with their own issues of parental expectations, sexual orientation, and personal desires.

Mr. McConnell and James encourage Ellen to develop her artistic ability. This provides an outlet for her creativity and a vehicle through which she can explore her thoughts about James, Link, and her parents. By the end of the book, Ellen has grown into a young woman who is more sure of herself and her relationships with those she loves. She says of herself, "Although I'm still in the process of meeting her, I've already decided to like her" (p. 154).

AWARDS

A Michael L. Printz Honor Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2002
A Booklist "Pick of the List"
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2002



REVIEW EXCERPTS
"A thoughtful approach to the many confusing signals that accompany awakening sexuality." - Publishers Weekly


"One of the standout qualities is the protagonist's fresh, vital voice." - The Horn Book

BOOK HOOK
>Visit the author's website at http://www.freymann-weyr.com/ to learn more about her and her other books.
>Read Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger, another Printz Award Honor Book about complicated family relationships and first love. Compare the characters and their relationships to those in My Heartbeat.

The Pigman

Zindel, Paul. 1968. THE PIGMAN. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 006026828X.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Although Paul Zindel's outstanding young adult novel, The Pigman, was published over forty years ago, the characters and themes are timeless and still resonate with readers today. John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen both come from homes where the parent/child relationship is strained. John lives in the shadow of his older brother who is married and works on Wall Street. In the words of Mrs. Conlan, "Kenneth never gave us any trouble" (p. 33). John is a very creative and attractive young man. He also drinks, smokes, and lies a lot. In his first year of high school, he was known as the "Bathroom Bomber". He perfected a method of delayed ignition which allowed him to be far from the bathroom by the time the bomb went off. Lorraine lives with her frazzled, hard-working mother, a private duty nurse. Her parents separated when Lorraine was a toddler, and her father died subsequently several years later. Zindel does not relegate the characterizations of the Conlans and Ms. Jensen to the background. They are revealed through anecdotes and conversations with their children. The foibles and eccentricities of the parents are integral to the personalities and quirks of John and Lorraine. John's father, "phonied up a car-insurance claim to get a hundred dollars..." (p. 29). His mother cleans compulsively and tells lies to salesclerks to get Green Stamps. Lorraine's mother steals from her patients and belittles and berates her daughter. In Lorraine's own words, "If I made a list of every comment she's made about me, you'd think I was a monstrosity" (p. 11). Secondary, supporting characters are given enough detail to be descriptive but not elaborate portrayals of teachers and classmates. The third main character is the Pigman himself, Mr. Angelo Pignati. He is the victim.


Zindel tells the story of John, Lorraine, and the Pigman from the point of view of the two young protagonists. John and Lorraine decide to record their experiences with Mr. Pignati in a "memorial epic". They take turns writing the chapters of the epic. This in effect gives the book two narrators who provide their own unique perspective on the events that take place. What starts out as a telephone prank leads eventually into a complicated, co-dependent relationship between the two teens and the Pigman. Mr. Pignati's loneliness is exploited by John and Lorraine to get money and things they want like roller skates, fancy food, and alcohol. A detail that reveals the age of this book is the discovery of a "small plastic card" by John in the Pigman's upstairs bedroom. John and Lorraine have never seen a credit card before (p. 83). An underlying theme of personal responsibility and accountability is revealed in the series of events that unfolds in The Pigman. John and Lorraine begin by tricking Mr. Pignati into making a donation to a non-existent charity they have invented. As time goes by, they spend time with him in his home and come to see him as a human being with feelings and emotions. The two lonely young people respond to Mr. Pignati's kindness and attention, elements that are absent in their homes. They continue, however, to take advantage of his generous nature while feeling occasional pangs of guilt. When Mr. Pignati is hospitalized following a health crisis, John and Lorraine host a raucus party in his house. He returns unexpectedly to find his home in total disarray. His young friends take responsibility for the mess and try to make it up to him by offering to clean the house and take him on an outing. The two remorseful teens and the lonely, disappointed old man go to the zoo to see Mr. Pignati's favorite animal, Bobo the baboon. Mr. Pignati had asked the teens to visit Bobo for him while he was in the hospital. When they get to the ape house they learn from a zookeeper that Bobo has died. Mr. Pignati has a heart attack and dies. John and Lorraine are stunned by the Pigman's death and must now live with the consequences of their selfishness. If they had visited Bobo as promised, they could have broken the news of his death to Mr. Pignati gently. Coupled with their guilt is the sorrow they feel for the loss of someone that they now recognize as a friend.

REVIEW EXCERPTS/ACCOLADES
An Outstanding Book of 1968 - The New York Times Book Review
"An intensely moving story of believably alienated young people." - Library Journal
"John and Lorraine, sophomores in high school, tell the tragic story of their friendship with a lonely old man whom they love and destroy." - Booklist

BOOK HOOK
>Lead a booktalk discussion about John's and Lorraine's relationship with their parents. Do kids today share some of the same communication issues with their parents? What about their relationship with Mr. Pignati? Can teens and older adults be friends? Why or why not?
>Read The Pigman and Me, a memoir by Paul Zindel to get an inside look at the inspiration for Mr. Pignati.

Advanced Literature for Young Adults-LS5623

Future posts to this blog will be reviews of books for young adults.