About this book:
This is a story about a young, Latino girl who is about to turn 15. Her mother is planning to throw her a quinceanera, to which in Estrella's eyes, will be really cheesy. We find out that she is really living a double life--she goes to a private school with a bunch of other rich kids, two of whom are her friends, yet she lives in a place known as the barrio. She wants just a small party to invite her two friends to a dinner, but her mother goes out of control in the planning of this quinceanera. We watch as Estrella tries to keep these two lives separate and make some choices that go against her family and her friends.
What comes from this book:
This book can teach kids, especially girls, the importance of having a place for all the different parts of their lives. It also shows them why people shouldn't hide their true selves to other people for any reason because that's what makes them them.
Classroom uses for this book:
Teachers of middle school or high school aged kids can have a great time using this book as a way to encourage students to really appreciate their lives, no matter what it consists of. A good classroom activity that can come from this book is by having students take a notice of how they try to portray themselves on social media and how they are to their family, friends, and strangers. Are there differences? What do they really polish on the computer screen? Do they leave details about their lives out when they talk to certain people? This can be an open-ended project.
Further information about this book:Alegría, Malín. Estrella's Quinceañera. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2006. Print. ISBN: 0-689-87809-5
This is a story about a young, Latino girl who is about to turn 15. Her mother is planning to throw her a quinceanera, to which in Estrella's eyes, will be really cheesy. We find out that she is really living a double life--she goes to a private school with a bunch of other rich kids, two of whom are her friends, yet she lives in a place known as the barrio. She wants just a small party to invite her two friends to a dinner, but her mother goes out of control in the planning of this quinceanera. We watch as Estrella tries to keep these two lives separate and make some choices that go against her family and her friends.
What comes from this book:
This book can teach kids, especially girls, the importance of having a place for all the different parts of their lives. It also shows them why people shouldn't hide their true selves to other people for any reason because that's what makes them them.
Classroom uses for this book:
Teachers of middle school or high school aged kids can have a great time using this book as a way to encourage students to really appreciate their lives, no matter what it consists of. A good classroom activity that can come from this book is by having students take a notice of how they try to portray themselves on social media and how they are to their family, friends, and strangers. Are there differences? What do they really polish on the computer screen? Do they leave details about their lives out when they talk to certain people? This can be an open-ended project.
Further information about this book:Alegría, Malín. Estrella's Quinceañera. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2006. Print. ISBN: 0-689-87809-5