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

Call Number: New Book Shelf GT2490 .A45 2007

In Once Upon a Quinceañera, a fascinating book about the celebration of a girl's coming of age, bestselling novelist Julia Alvarez, author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent and In the Time of the Butterflies, studies the ancient ritual that unites the U.S. Latino community and is rapidly evolving and spreading across ethnic lines.

Ms. Alvarez finds that with a growing Latino population in the United States, this tradition has a strong positive aspect: It binds Hispanics together. You might be Honduran, but you can hire Andean flutes, have a full court of 14 chambelanes and damas -- believed to be a Mexican practice -- and follow the Puerto Rican tradition of changing from flat shoes to heels. Some girls, are now combining the Latino ritual with the Sweet 16 parties common in the United States.

Check out Once Upon a Quinceanera, available on the library's New Book Shelf