Osa, Nancy. CUBA 15. New York: Delacorte Press, 2003. ISBN 0385900864
CUBA 15 gives us a fairly detailed view of part of a school year of a Cuban-American girl's life at an important time. Violet Paz lives in Chicago and is preparing for her quinceanero to celebrate her 15th birthday. Her strong-willed Cuban grandmother is the one who introduces Violet to this tradition, but it is Violet who makes it her own by combining all that is important to her. Readers will identify with Violet as she shares her high school experiences on the speech team, a boyfriend, good times with friends and an eccentric family. Cuban history and culture is woven in to help readers appreciate other's uniqueness.
The largest cultural marker is the quinceanero Violet is preparing for. Since she has not heard of this celebration before she must learn from books, family and herself how this celebration will best represent her. Violet's grandmother teachers her and her brother what the celebration is about, "The quinceanero, m'ijo, this is the time when the girl becomes the woman...The quince is the time when all the resto del mundo ass-cepts your dear sister as an adult in the eyes of God and family. And she, in turn, promises to ass-cept responsabilidad for all the wonders in the world of adults." As Violet learns about the special occasion she also learns about herself.
Violet also learns about her Cuban background which can be a sore point with her father since he mostly grew up in the U.S. and didn't want to acknowledge his background growing up. Her father learns he needs to share his knowledge with his children. "Maybe we should talk a little bit about Cuba sometime." Violet also learns about Cuba from her grandmother, aunt, music and some of her own research. She goes to a Cuba-focused peace rally with her friend and really begins to want to know her background. "I was fascinated. People all over the globe were working to normalize relations with the island. People who weren't even Cuban. I wanted to ask them why."
Osa uses Spanish interlingually which helps give authenticity to the story. The use of Spanish varies according to the characters. Violet's grandmother uses the most Spanish and the author gives her a "Spanglish accent". "We plan the fiestecita for next ehspring. My little Violeta is becoming una mujer!", "He die in Coo-ba. Is a long time ago. But always he is with me...I think I inherit some-sing from him." The use of Spanish also varies depending on who is talking to whom. Violet's dad speaks more Spanish to his parents than to his children. Violet speaks to this when she is thinking about what her grandmother tells her about the quinceanero: "I couldn't plead ignorance-as-usual and say No comprendo, because this time I understood her Spanish, but only because she'd used a cognate."
Playing dominoes for dimes, smoking cigars, food and music are also cultural markers in the story. All of these elements are combined at a large multi-day party at Violet's house for her friends and extended family. So much detail is used to describe many of the aspects of their party. "The house smelled of garlicky frijoles negros and frying platanos-green plantain chips, the kind I liked; they'd be salty-sweet and too hot to eat, but in no time they would disappear, leaving just an oil-spotted paper towel and spilled salt on the plate.", "Friday night, I fell asleep to the alternate clacking of dominoes and Tito Puente's timbales. The only time I could get a dime in edgewise on one of the packed porch tables was when I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and found Abuelo and two friends still playing...The men signaled me to throw in a dime, and a new game began."
Readers will love the glimpse into a family that has so much going on as well as learning about a culture they may not have known much about.
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: "As a bonus, readers get some exposure to Cuban history and culture, including a smattering of Spanish words and phrases."
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Among the many strengths of this book are its likable and very real protagonist and her introduction to the nexus of politics and family.
Read other books about quinceaneras:
QUINCEANERA MEANS SWEET 15 by Veronica Chambers
ISBN 0786804971
QUINCEANERA: CELEBRATING FIFTEEN by Elizabeth King
ISBN 0525456384
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