Confetti Girl - Couverture rigide

"Employing lovely metaphors and realistic dialogue, adult author López (Sofia's Saints) delicately displays the power of optimism and innovation during difficult times."―Publishers Weekly

"An appealing coming-of-age novel...Local idioms of Spanish proverbs -- dichos -- used as chapter headings enlighten both characters and readers."―Kirkus Reviews

"López effectively portrays the Texas setting and the characters' Latino heritage....This debut novel puts at its center a likable girl facing realistic problems on her own terms."―Booklist

"Like the colorful cascarones López writes about, Confetti Girl is bursting with heartwarming cheer."―Grace Lin, author of The Year of the Dog

"A great set of characters and a fantastic story: the dichos, sayings or adages meant to shed some light on a situation, to teach a lesson, to encourage wisdom. If that's the case, then here's mine for this wonderful novel: Un libro sin abrir es una vida sin sabor (A book unread is a life unlived). So, live this book. Live its humor, its sadness, and ultimately its great joy."―René Saldaña, Jr., author of The Whole Sky Full of Stars, Finding Our Way, and The Jumping Tree

"Although Confetti Girl takes on a serious subject matter, it's also about fun, a whole semester's worth, which includes confrontations with the school's most popular boy, a school festival, volleyball, friendship, boy craziness, a quinceañera and trips to the beach - and the counselor's office."―San Antonio Express-News

"López weaves Lina's bilingual and bicultural upbringing into the narrative seamlessly, giving young Latina readers an added element to connect with."―El Paso Times

"Like a cascaron, Lina's life is full of colorful people and events, and you will want to read about every single one of them in this witty, honest novel."―Kid Reporter Claire Epting, TIME for Kids , "Summer Splash" 2009

Apolonia 'Lina' Flores is looking for answers, but she can't seem to figure out why she's losing all the important people in her life, even with a house crammed full of books and facts. After her mother's unexpected death, her father hides from sorrow by keeping his nose buried in books. Her best friend Vanessa's got problems of her own: her father recently left her mother, who deals with the rejection by obsessively making cascarones, which are hollow egg shells filled with confetti. When Vanessa starts to get boy crazy and begins to slip away too, Lina learns to find the answers within herself and understand what it means to grow up.

With its strong voice, humor, endearing characters, and compelling subject matter, Confetti Girl is reminiscent of The Year of the Dog and Judy Blume. It portrays Hispanic-Americans in a day-to-day setting, rather than focusing on the common archetypes of migrant worker or inner city kid, and still retains the rich cultural aspects of Lina's heritage.