The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcárcel Book Review.
Twelve year old Quijana is trying to navigate a lot of difficulties- starting seventh grade at a new school, making new friends, her first crush, and now her dad is trying to get her to embrace her Guatemalan heritage. The problem with this is that he’s raised Quijana totally Anglo, never teaching her Spanish or much about her heritage. When some of her Guatemalan relatives move nearby all of a sudden he wants her to be more like her cousins. She’s trying to deal with that, her problems at school and now her beloved grandma is sick.
I really adored this book! It tackles SO many issues and in the hands of the wrong author that could be overwhelming and seem like they were trying to jam too much into one book. In the hands of Balcárcel it creates a beautiful coming of age story about a girl trying to grapple with being raised bi-culturally as well as dealing with all the other hardships of junior high.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- I really liked this book and completely recommend it. The target audience may be Middle Grade, but adults can equally enjoy this beautiful and authentic story.
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher: Chronicle Kids Books
ISBN: 9781452169989
Get it at: Amazon or Book Depository
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From the publisher:
One-half Guatemalan, one-half American: When Quijana’s Guatemalan cousins move to town, her dad seems ashamed that she doesn’t know more about her family’s heritage.
One-half crush, one-half buddy: When Quijana meets Zuri and Jayden, she knows she’s found true friends. But she can’t help the growing feelings she has for Jayden.
One-half kid, one-half grown-up: Quijana spends her nights Skyping with her ailing grandma and trying to figure out what’s going on with her increasingly hard-to-reach brother.
Thank you so much to Chronicle Kids Books for gifting me this copy of The Other Half of Happy!! All opinions are my own.
The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcárcel Book Review.
