Review by Booklist Review
While not every essay in this collection by and about Latinas and their experiences with higher education imparts great wisdom, together they present a nuanced picture of the determination, sorrow, and sacrifice conjoining a young Latina's decision to attend college and graduate school. The voices span Hispanic American nationalities Mexican, Cuban, Colombian, Puerto Rican, Tejana (Texan Mexican) as well as places of origin and destination. Among the most prevalent topics are traditional mothers, both loving and clinging; alienation from families and neighborhood friends; and sex, including a fair degree of explicitness. The final selection, by Sandra Cisneros, is a wistful but ultimately satisfying reflection ending with her father's eventual acceptance of her chosen career. What drives these women to break from their familial and cultural narratives, even though, according to contributor Jennine Capo Crucet, We've all felt so alone and guilty? Her answer: We are strong enough to take this hit for our daughters' sakes. Moreover, writes Stephanie Elizondo Griest, it's amazing to see who else you might become along the way. --Saper, Carolyn Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Their stories vary, as do their backgrounds: a woman from San Antonio whose ancestors fought at the Battle of the Alamo-against, not for, Mexico-ends up at Barnard College and with a Chinese roommate; a girl from Bogota, Colombia, travels with her parents to Chicago to attend college, unaware of the city's brutal winters. The Latina contributors to this collection of personal essays-Norma Cantu, Sandra Cisneros, and Julia Alvarez, among others-have endured bigotry because of their ancestry and survived abuse because of their gender. What they have in common is their heritage and their strength that helps them to overcome obstacles and make something more of themselves. Editor De Leon, a Boston public school teacher and an instructor at the Grub Street Creative Writing Center, compiled this volume partly because she wished she'd had such a book when navigating the collegiate waters. But it's also meant to dispel stereotypes about Latina women in the predominantly white environment of American higher education. VERDICT Latinas approaching college age and those new to institutions of higher learning will relate to these essays, but the collection has merit beyond its intended audience. Filled with varying degrees of loneliness, fear, anger, and self-doubt, these stories have moments that speak to everyone.-Terry Christner, Hutchinson P.L., KS (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This aptly named collection of essays lives up to its title, a reference to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's quote that a "wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Don't be put off by the subtitle, which suggests dry academic reading; these personal essays are full of learning and life. Contributors from different backgrounds and generations, including Sandra Cisneros, Ruth Behar, Joy Castro and Iris Gomez, preside over these pages with a wide range of concerns, including alienation, isolation and sexuality. In her introduction, essayist De Leon, a Boston schoolteacher, sets the tone with a tribute to her mother, a housekeeper from Guatemala who worked tirelessly to be sure her daughters went to college. Indeed, one of the common threads in the book is the idea of parental sacrifice for the betterment of children. The flip side can be a sense of loss and alienation that comes from opening up cultural gaps within families. In "Stories She Told Us," Daisy Hernndez tries to bridge the chasm between what she learns in the classroom and the hardships faced by her mother, who came to America from Colombia. She shares feminist ideas with her mother, thinking this knowledge will save her; eventually, however, she realizes, "[a]ll the things I'm trying to tell her, have been trying to teach her about, all these things that I needed words for, my mother already knows." Julia Alvarez, whose family fled the Dominican Republic under political duress, writes of her early academic alienation in America, when what was taught and how she was supposed to learn did not include "my ways of perceiving and moving in the world." In the wonderfully imaginative "WhiteGirlColorlessAfriPana," Gail M. Dottin ponders identity in a funny/sad/philosophic dialogue with herself. The abundance of high-quality material makes the book hard to put down. While it focuses on Latina experiences, the emotional truths these writers express have a broader resonance.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
