Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez

Apolonia Flores (known to all as Lina) has problems as she starts middle school.  Her English teacher father would rather read books than pay attention to her.  In fact, she is driven to reorganizing her sock collection because they have no television in the house.  Her best friend Vanessa is too distracted by her new boyfriend to act like a best friend should.  Lina likes cute Luis, but can’t tell if he likes her, too.  Meanwhile, she is failing English and can’t seem to pull together her science project on whooping cranes.  Through it all she just wishes her mother could still be around to help her sort it all out.  That can’t be because her mother died two years ago.

Each chapter starts with a dichos, or Spanish proverb that relates to Lina’s life at the moment.  Also scattered throughout the novel are cascarones:  festive, hollow eggshells, filled with confetti, that are cracked on people’s heads, scattering confetti all over the place and bringing good luck.  Just like the cascarones, Lina’s story is filled with joy in spite of the sorrow that she has encountered. 

Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez is a fun read that invites you to laugh and cry alongside Lina and her friends and family.  The characters are both believable and memorable.

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