Damas, Drama, and Ana Ruiz by Belinda Acosta
Description: 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...Why I liked this book: It's all about mothers and daughters in Acosta's debut novel. Misunderstandings, harsh words, and mega drama are on tap here, but in the end it is all about the LOVE. This book was funny without being corny, sexy without being raunchy. Great suggestions for music, food, art and even unique names. A very pleasant surprise, read it in five days, story moved swift. As a mom of a two teens, there was one unexpected story line that broke me down to tears, you just have to read the book to see what I mean.
"Belinda Acosta's Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz delivers all its title promises and more: it's a book about damas of all ages, from teenage girls to the struggling mothers of those teenage girls; it's packed with drama so you don't want to stop reading; it's a novel that deeply and honestly tells the story of Ana Ruiz, her own coming of age as a woman and as a mother. Belinda Acosta is up to all of the challenges of such a rich panorama of characters and events. She's sassy, she's smart, she makes it look easy! But it takes a lot of hard work and a pile of talent to write such an engaging, touching book. A wonderful quinceañera of a novel!"
—- Julia Alvarez, author of Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA and Return to Sender
"Lively and perceptive... Acosta empathically captures the innermost feelings of her characters."
—- Booklist
Felicidades,
Kathy :-)
