Gabi A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Gabi A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Gabi is a good girl who is questioning the hypocrisy of just what exactly it means to be “good.” In Gabi’s mother’s and Tia’s world her brother can do no wrong (even when he is obviously doing wrong), girls who get pregnant are sluts and always to blame, and being fat makes you destined to be single forever. Except that Gabi knows that none of this is true. She sees right through all the double standards and BS thrown her way. Gabi is smart and articulate, she is a writer and a poet, and she isn’t going to let her dreams die, like going to UC Berkeley, just because her family judges her harshly for her choices.

Written in the form of journal entries, this book is entertaining and heartfelt. It reads like a true-to-life high school experience. Gabi is from Southern California and shares a Latina perspective on growing up and coming of age. There is poetry and letters mixed in, all told in an authentic voice of a girl who is confident and insecure all at the same time.

Review by Sarah Rosenkrantz

Spoken Word about libraries!

Taylor Mali is a spoken word poet who emerged out of the Poetry Slam movement.  As a former teacher, many of his poems celebrate the vitality of teaching and learning, all with a wonderful, laugh-out-loud sense of humor.  You can look at this poem about libraries from your home computer, unless you are clever enough to get around the school’s filtering software.  Come in and share a thought or so about it with me for to be put in a drawing for a free, new book!