DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ TOUR, REVIEW, & GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER
DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ
BLOG TOUR
BY BELINDA ACOSTA

ABOUT THE BOOK:

All Ana Ruiz wanted was to have a traditional quinceañera for her daughter, Carmen. She wanted a nice way to mark this milestone year in her daughter's life. But Carmen was not interested in celebrating. Hurt and bitter over her father Esteban's departure, she blamed Ana for destroying their happy family, as did everyone else. A good man is hard to find, especially at your age Ana was told. Why not forgive his one indiscretion? Despite everything, Ana didn't want to tarnish Carmen's childlike devotion to her beloved father. But Ana knows that growing up sometimes means facing hard truths. In the end, Ana discovers that if she's going to teach Carmen anything about what it means to be a woman, it will take more than simply a fancy party to do it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Belinda Acosta lives and writes in Austin, Texas where she is a columnist for the Austin Chronicle. Her non-fiction has appeared in Poets & Writers, Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Culture, AlterNet, the San Antonio Current, and Latino Magazine. She is a member of Macondo, the writers' collective launched by acclaimed writer Sandra Cisneros. She loves knitting, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, chips & salsa, mariachi (good, make your soul leap from your body, mariachi); conjunto music (todo old school), and given the opportunity, will square dance. Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz is her first novel.

FROM BELINDA ACOSTA'S BLOG:

QUINCEANERA DRESSES

"Speaking of "living color," check out this pretty palette of dresses in the photo. This was taken at the end of the fashion show at the Quince Expo & Latina Bridal Festival I appeared at last weekend in Austin, Texas. The expo is not your typical "book event," but I had to go when the invite was warmly offered by event planner (and sister las comadres member) Cindy Benavides. If there was any doubt that anyone heard me, those doubts were dashed when en eager bunch of young women and their mothers came up after I read to find out more about the book. Looks like there's a bright future for the Quinceañera Club series. Eso!"

MY REVIEW OF...
DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ:

Always curious about just what a quinceanera is, this was a great book for me! It is somewhat like a Sweet Sixteen party, when a girl celebrates a special time in her young adult life. The difference however is the quinceanera in the Hispanic culture is a celebration when a girl turns 15 and has more emotional and spiritual connotation attached to it.

The book starts when Ana Ruiz is a young mom with Carmen, her fourteen year old daughter, and who is working hard to handle the recent separation from her husband. Along with that, she must deal with work and how Carmen is very upset about all of this with her parents. Carmen is very vocal about it and blames her mother for it all. Ana thinks the quinceanera might be a way to make things better with Carmen but Carmen wants no part of it.

Luckily, Bianca, who is Ana's niece, becomes the party planner and helps to keep peace between Carmen and Ana, at least somewhat. Diego, who is Carmen's older brother, also begins to understand his father's leaving and what his mother went through so also tries to help keep the peace. Planning Carmen's quinceneanera acts as the basis of the drama going on in this family. I found it interesting that the book focused on Ana Ruiz and what she was going through in trying to continue her education and being a strong and confident woman.

The story is very touching as well as humorous. The characters are well developed and they are facing real life problems that all families face...not just Hispanic families. Parts of the story have short Spanish phrases in it and Spanish words but using context clues in reading allows for even non-Spanish speaking readers to understand what is going on. I liked the book and even the complications of the cultures are explained and what helped me to understand so much more. Acosta handles this well and I believe this is part of a series and if so, I am certainly looking forward to it!

GIVEAWAY
I have 5 copies of this book to
give away thanks to Miriam and
the Hachette Book Group!

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