Thursday, February 23, 2017

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

I started keeping a journal religiously when I was in high school.  Recently, I read back through some of my earliest entries and rolled my eyes and laughed at myself while also being struck but how serious things were.  I don't remember a lot of those serious things that were going on but they were there.  Maybe this is part of the reason I LOVED this book, which is presented in diary form.  Also, having spent some time as the resident fat girl in high school, I could really relate to Gabi.
Gabi is a seventeen year old Mexican-American whose life is crazy to begin with and about to get even crazier.  She is overweight and her mother is constantly poking at her to lose weight.  She's gotten very clever about hiding her secret jerky stash.  She's entering her senior year of high school with high hopes for college and a low Algebra II grade.  Her brother is a little bit of a delinquent.  Her father is a meth addict.  Then, at the very beginning of the book, her best friend announces that she is pregnant.  Gabi is shocked because, well, Cindy never told her that she had even done it.  Next, her friend Sebastian comes out to his parents and finds himself sleeping on Gabi's couch for a while.
Gabi takes us through her tumultuous senior year with honesty and humor.  She gets her first and then her second boyfriend.  Her very religious aunt comes to live with the family.  She has to help her enemy out of a situation.  Gabi is never overly dramatic about the big stuff but can be humorously over dramatic about the little stuff.
I loved this book.  It made me laugh out loud and bite my fingernails.  Don't let the cover throw you off.  This one is definitely worth the read! -RYQ

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