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Gabi, A Girl in Pieces Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2014 July 24 My mother named me Gabriella, after my grandmother who, coincidentally, didn't want to meet me when I was born because my mother was unmarried, and therefore living in sin. My mom has told me the story many, many, MANY, times of how, when she confessed to my grandmother that she was pregnant with me, her mother beat her. BEAT HER! She was twenty-five. That story is the basis of my sexual education and has reiterated why it's important to wait until you're married to give it up. So now, every time I go out with a guy, my mom says, "Ojos abiertos, piernas cerradas." Eyes open, legs closed. That's as far as the birds and the bees talk has gone. And I don't mind it. I don't necessarily agree with that whole wait until you're married crap, though. I mean, this is America and the 21st century; not Mexico one hundred years ago. But, of course, I can't tell my mom that because she will think I'm bad. Or worse: trying to be White. Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year in high school in her diary: Cindy's pregnancy, Sebastian's coming out, the cute boys, her father's meth habit, and the food she craves. And best of all, the poetry that helps forge her identity. Includes a PDF of Gabi's 'Zine.
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“Narrator Kyla Garcia moves easily between English and Spanish, establishing the cultural confusion of a seventeen-year-old Mexican-American high school senior. Gabi’s diary entries are a lyrical mix of courage and frustration, confusing sex and honest friendship, shame and pride. Garcia’s wide range of tones authentically expresses the thoughtful teenager’s rapidly shifting feelings…Gabi is eloquent and messy, smart in school but not wise enough to restrain her emotions amid conflict. Garcia’s versatility and Quintero’s vivid writing unite to show the strength and beauty of a complex young woman. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Meet Quintero’s ‘fat girl’ Gabi, eating and starving and fighting and writing her way through the crushing pressures of high-school boy desire, religious approval, and Mexican cultural taboos. I cannot think of any book today for young adults as voracious, bold, truthful, and timely.”
— Juan Felipe Herrera, poet laureate of California -
“Quintero’s first novel quickly establishes a strong voice and Mexican-American cultural perspective through the journal of intelligent, self-deprecating, and funny Gabi.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“Believing she’s not Mexican enough for her family and not white enough for Berkeley, Gabi still meets every challenge head on with vulgar humor and raw honesty…A refreshing take on slut- and fat-shaming, Quintero’s work ranks with Meg Medina’s Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and Junot Diaz’s Drown as a coming-of-age novel with Latino protagonists.”
— School Library Journal (starred review) -
“Readers won’t soon forget Gabi, a young woman coming into her own in the face of intense pressure from her family, culture, and society to fit someone else’s idea of what it means to be a ‘good’ girl. A fresh, authentic, and honest exploration of contemporary Latina identity.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“While reflecting the specific experiences of one overweight, Mexican-American teenager, Quintero’s debut novel addresses a number of universal themes, from family relationships to sexual exploration. Gabi’s voice, as expressed in her diary through poetry, prose, lists, and overheard conversations, is funny, smart, full of wonder, and brutally honest.”
— VOYA (starred review) -
“Reading Quintero’s debut is like attending a large family fiesta: it’s overpopulated with people, noise, and emotion, but the overall effect is joyous.”
— Booklist (starred review)
Awards
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One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2014 for Teens
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A School Library Journal Best Book of 2014
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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A 2016 YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten Selection
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About Isabel Quintero
Isabel Quintero lives and writes in the Inland Empire of Southern California, where she was born and raised. Her debut novel, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces, was the recipient of five starred reviews and several awards, including the 2015 Morris YA Debut Award and the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. For fun she reads and writes, watches comedies, and eats paletas and chicharrónes every chance she gets. Her favorite paleta flavor? Pues coco, of course.
About Kyla Garcia
Kyla Garcia is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. Born and raised in Hoboken, New Jersey, she discovered acting at the age of eight when she played Lady Macbeth in a children’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy. She made her off-Broadway debut at fifteen when she played Dorothy in Oz: A Twisted Musical. Eleven years after she discovered her passion for acting, she would go on to play Lady Macbeth once again in London at the Globe Theatre, where she studied Shakespeare during her third year at Mason Gross School of the Arts. She received her BFA in acting from Rutgers University.