CUBA 15 Violet Paz has just turned 15, a pivotal birthday in the eyes of her Cuban grandmother. Fifteen is the age when a girl enters womanhood, traditionally celebrating the occasion with a quinceañero. But while Violet is half Cuban, she’s also half Polish, and more importantly, she feels 100% American. Except for her zany family’s passion for playing dominoes, smoking cigars, and dancing to Latin music, Violet knows little about Cuban culture, nada about quinces, and only tidbits about the history of Cuba. So when Violet begrudgingly accepts Abuela’s plans for a quinceañero–and as she begins to ask questions about her Cuban roots–cultures and feelings collide. The mere mention of Cuba and Fidel Castro elicits her grandparents’sadness and her father’s anger. Only Violet’s aunt Luz remains open-minded. With so many divergent views, it’s not easy to know what to believe. All Violet knows is that she’s got to form her own opinions, even if this jolts her family into unwanted confrontations. After all, a quince girl is supposed to embrace responsibility–and to Violet that includes understanding the Cuban heritage that binds her to a homeland she’s never seen. * A Pura Belpré Honor Book * * An ALA Notable Book * * An ALA Best Book for Young Adults * * A Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novels * Rights Information Publisher: Delacorte, Hardcover (June 10, 2003) Delacorte, Paperback (March 8, 2005) Territory: World Rights Available: Film/TV Reviews: "Among the many strengths of this book are its likable and very real protagonist and her introduction to the nexus of politics and family...the characters are so charming that while readers are in their company, the experience is interesting and engaging" - School Library Journal "As wonderfully specific as this first novel is to one immigrant family, many teens will recognize the cross-generational conflict between assimilation and the search for roots. Violet's hilarious, cool first-person narrative veers between slapstick and tenderness, denial and truth, as she shops for her party dress, attends a Cuban peace rally, despairs of her dad's values and his taste in clothes, sees that her American friends are also locked in crazy families, and finds the subject for her school comedy monologue in her own wild home, where she is "sentenced to life." There's no message, unless it's in the acceptance that resolution doesn't happen and that Dad is still worth loving--even if he comes to the elegant quinceanero in his favorite sunshine-yellow shirt with multicolored monkeys printed on it." - Booklist (Starred review) "Cuba 15 will make readers laugh, whether or not their families are as loco as Violet’s." - The Horn Book Magazine Blurbs: Purchase at Amazon.com

CUBA 15

Violet Paz has just turned 15, a pivotal birthday in the eyes of her Cuban grandmother. Fifteen is the age when a girl enters womanhood, traditionally celebrating the occasion with a quinceañero. But while Violet is half Cuban, she’s also half Polish, and more importantly, she feels 100% American. Except for her zany family’s passion for playing dominoes, smoking cigars, and dancing to Latin music, Violet knows little about Cuban culture, nada about quinces, and only tidbits about the history of Cuba. So when Violet begrudgingly accepts Abuela’s plans for a quinceañero–and as she begins to ask questions about her Cuban roots–cultures and feelings collide. The mere mention of Cuba and Fidel Castro elicits her grandparents’sadness and her father’s anger. Only Violet’s aunt Luz remains open-minded.

With so many divergent views, it’s not easy to know what to believe. All Violet knows is that she’s got to form her own opinions, even if this jolts her family into unwanted confrontations. After all, a quince girl is supposed to embrace responsibility–and to Violet that includes understanding the Cuban heritage that binds her to a homeland she’s never seen.

* A Pura Belpré Honor Book *
* An ALA Notable Book *
* An ALA Best Book for Young Adults *
* A Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novels *

Rights Information

Publisher: Delacorte, Hardcover (June 10, 2003)
Delacorte, Paperback (March 8, 2005)

Territory: World

Rights Available: Film/TV

Reviews:
"Among the many strengths of this book are its likable and very real protagonist and her introduction to the nexus of politics and family...the characters are so charming that while readers are in their company, the experience is interesting and engaging" - School Library Journal

"As wonderfully specific as this first novel is to one immigrant family, many teens will recognize the cross-generational conflict between assimilation and the search for roots. Violet's hilarious, cool first-person narrative veers between slapstick and tenderness, denial and truth, as she shops for her party dress, attends a Cuban peace rally, despairs of her dad's values and his taste in clothes, sees that her American friends are also locked in crazy families, and finds the subject for her school comedy monologue in her own wild home, where she is "sentenced to life." There's no message, unless it's in the acceptance that resolution doesn't happen and that Dad is still worth loving--even if he comes to the elegant quinceanero in his favorite sunshine-yellow shirt with multicolored monkeys printed on it." - Booklist (Starred review)

"Cuba 15 will make readers laugh, whether or not their families are as loco as Violet’s." - The Horn Book Magazine

Blurbs:

Purchase at Amazon.com