A Book Review Starring "Gabi A Girl in Pieces" by Isabel Quintero

The short version:
Gabi Hernandez keeps a journal during her senior year of high school in a Southern California border town, during which she grapples with being an overweight, smart Mexican girl in a traditional Catholic Mexican family and community. Over the course of the year she discovers a love for poetry, her first boyfriends and when to stand up for herself (and her friends), among other things.

The long version:
Where to start?

Utterly charming.

Smart, funny, witty, ascorbic, emotional, contemplative, all within the voice of an 18 year old Mexican-American girl.

It's clear from the beginning how much love and attention Quintero has invested in all of her characters. Not only is Gabi a main character you root for and identify with from the start, but her supporting characters (of which there are more than a handful) are so full and have such complete, individual emotional lives too.

She touches on so many issues but does so within Gabi's voice and perspective, from sexism and double standards in Mexican-American culture to how deeply drug addiction affects an entire family; from how weight affects self-image to when and when not to stand up for what you believe in. There's drug addition, there's sex, there's sexual assault, so much is going on in Gabi's world and Quintero has managed it all with grace, gravity and humor all while keeping her character's voice consistent. It could have easily devolved into kitchen-sink-hood but it never did.

In an age where we're all talking about diversity-diversity-diversity, Quintero has given us not only a story full of diversity but first and foremost a fabulous read (and we all know that just because a story is diverse doesn't mean it's fun to read).

I couldn't put it down.

It's one of the best young adult novels I've read this year.

ps

The cover. Was I in love with it? No. It's a hard sell from the perspective of a browsing patron, I think. It's not easy to glance at and take it in, there's a lot going on, and I wasn't sure it matched with the story I was reading. I felt less so after getting to the point later in the story where the cover art corresponds with the story. But still. I'd love to hear what other readers have to say about it.