Under the Mesquite, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

        


     McCall, G.G. (2011). UNDER THE MESQUITE. Lee & Low Books.

 Lupita is a Mexican American teenager, the eldest of eight children, and a devoted daughter to her parents. Immigrants from Mexico, the family has close ties to their language, culture, religion, and identity as family members.

Lupita’s happy world comes crashing to a halt when she learns of her mother’s cancer diagnosis. Lupita, a budding actress, and poet struggles to understand her role as a teenager in a very adult world. When Mami undergoes surgery and chemotherapy, Lupita takes her summer of sophomore year off to take care of Mami. Though frightening, it seems that the cancer scare is gone, and Lupita begins to find success and joy in acting and poetry. But the family is torn apart when Mami’s cancer comes back, this time for good. Lupita convinces her father to take Mami to a treatment center far from home while she manages high school and caring for her younger siblings. The hard work and separation appear to be for nothing, as Mami returns feebler and more weakened than before. Lupita and her siblings must watch as their mother slowly and painfully dies from her cancer. The family fears losing the glue that holds them together, but they also discover a new sense of freedom when Mami’s suffering finally ends. In the final part of the book, Lupita comes to terms with a future without Mami and decides to embrace change by moving away to college. 

 Mami and Papi’s carefully curated rose garden is beautiful and representative of the care they put into growing their large family, not excluding the stubborn and (at first) unwanted mesquite that grows in the middle. The book begins with a description of the mesquite tree, which is known for its strength and resilience to endure harsh climates, droughts, and people’s attempts to uproot it. This tree embodies the key theme of the text that is shown through the strength and bravery that Lupita’s mom has in fighting cancer, the strength that Lupita has in coping with her mother’s illness, and the challenges it imposes upon her family.

A common theme I have seen in the Latinx books I have read is the struggle that many Latinx youths in the U.S. face, which is the dilemma of how they see themselves, how their peers see them and how society sees them. Lupita experiences this with regard to her accent and how she speaks. As she becomes interested in theatre, her teacher tries to help her “Americanize” her accent, which causes tension between Lupita and her friends that accuse her of trying to become one of them.  It seems the young adults are caught in a power struggle between who they want to become and where they came from.  One particular part of the story that reflects this struggle is when Lupita’s tias (aunts) dress her up in a floral dress and pantyhose.  Lupita says “Why do I have to wear this stuff?  This is your style, not mine!  I like jeans and tennis shoes.  Why can’t I just dress like a normal teenager?”

The common cultural markers are present in the novel: names of characters, the Spanish language splattered throughout, the food they eat, traditions they follow, religion.  The author discusses the skin tone of Lupita-she is dark like her mother.  She mentions that her father is lighter-complected, and therefore more prone to sunburn. Instead of mom and dad, Lupita and her siblings call their parents Mami and Papi.  I would like to mention that there is a glossary of names, Spanish words, and cultural references at the back of the book.

 

Pura Belpre Author Award
William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist
2013 Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award

Américas Award Honorable Mention
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist
2012 International Latino Book Awards – Honorable Mention

2013 International Literacy Association’s Promising Poet Award

 

School Library Journal: “Gr 6 Up—This autobiographical novel in verse chronicles Lupita's coming of age set against the backdrop of her mother's cancer diagnosis. I love the way that the author begins with the diagnosis and then follows up with a section of poems about her memories of growing up. She then returns to the present, and the final section deals tenderly with the loss of her mother and the way her father helps the family through the crisis with quiet strength. This novel rightfully won the Pura Belpré Author Award and it deserves wide exposure. I particularly appreciate the glossary of names, Spanish words, and cultural references, which ties readers to the world of South Texas and the Latino culture that is so prevalent in that region.  Reviewed by Tim Wadam, Jan 01, 2013”

 Teaching Latin American Through Literacy: “Under the Mesquite is a beautiful book.  While it was a quick read, it lingered in my mind.  I found myself continuing to think about it days after I’d finished it.  It’s a book that is certainly worth a second (or even third) read.  The first time through I was engrossed in the story, only subconsciously aware of the beauty and simplicity of McCall’s verse”

 

Other books about a parent dealing with cancer:

THE YEAR MY MOTHER WAS BALD, by Ann Speltz ISBN 978-1557988881

AND STILL THEY BLOOM: A FAMILY’S JOURNEY OF LOSS AND HEALING, by Amy Rovery ISBN 978-1604430363

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