The Tequila Worm

The Tequila Worm

by Viola Canales

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis: Sofia comes from a family of storytellers.  Here are the tales of growing up in the barrio, full of the magic and mystery of family traditions: making Easter cascarones, celebrating el Dia de los Muertos, preparing for a quincenera, rejoicing in the Christmas nacimiento, and curing homesickness by eating a tequila worm.  When Sofia is signaled out to receive a scholarship  to an elite boarding school, she longs to explore life beyond the barrio, even though it means leaving her family to navigate a strange world of rich, privileged kids.  It's a different mundo, but one where Sofia's traditions take on new meaning and illuminate her path.

from the back of the book

Review:  This was definitely a cultural look into Sofia's life growing up in a tight knit group of Latinos in Texas.  The book shares so many traditions from storytelling, cascarones at Easter, quincenera to cooking frijoles (beans).   There was humor in this book as well as sadness.  The characters are down to earth  and one that readers will connect to. There were mature topics in this book including underage drinking of alcohol, so that should factor into how young of a student reads this book plus Sofia herself is 14-16 years old when most of the book takes place so while the reading level may be a little lower, the intended audience may be higher.

Rating: 3.5 stars