Eleven-year-old Ada De Jesús was on the cusp of her teens when she moved to the United States from Puerto Rico. Hurricane Hugo had just decimated the island and her father couldn’t find a job.
In Chicago, the white dress she arrived in didn’t protect her from the snow and frigid temperatures! Constantly exposed to new things, she developed a resilience that served her well. “From one place to another, like riding a bike, if you keep pedaling, you won’t fall.”
Ada discovered that students in the United States were frequently disrespectful to their teachers. At school she often felt like a two-year-old as she grappled with a completely new language. In addition to navigating a different culture, she had to deal with all the issues familiar to teenage girls: the growth of body hair, pimples, menstruation and burgeoning feelings for the opposite sex. Her memories of first intimate encounters, fending off unwanted advances and fear of pregnancy will strike a chord with readers.
In these short vignettes recollecting her middle-school years, Ada De Jesús shares her poignant and often funny experiences as a newcomer and an adolescent. Young readers will relate to—and laugh at—her experiences; some may take heart that they too will overcome the difficulties common at this age.
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Índice
- Agradecimientos
- Sorpresas
- Hugo
- Pasaje de ida
- ¡Qué frio!
- Nuestro apartamentito
- No más juegos
- ¿Como se dice eso?
- El almuerzo
- La ventanilla
- El médico está listo
- Piernas de horror
- Cara de pasta
- Maquillaje
- Aquí los maestros no mandan
- Quiquiriquí
- El shelter
- El drama de maría y josé
- Medias apestosas
- Un chico sin hogar
- A los reyes no les gusta el frío
- No hay que repetir
- ¿Dónde queda vineland?
- Las mudanzas
- Mi escape
- Ya no eres bilingüe
- El flirteo
- El chupetón
- Halloween
- ¡Qué empujón!
- De estudiante a maestra
- Cheerleader
- El club de baile latino
- El locker
- ¿Por fin un novio?
- ¡Ay, qué novio!
- Una boda temprana
- El baile de octavo
- ¡Me subieron la falda!
- Tu amiga va a ser mamá
- La graduación de octavo
- No hay para fiesta de quince
- Para cerrar
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Surprises
- Hugo
- One-way ticket
- Oh, the cold!
- Our little apartment
- No time for play
- How do you say...?
- Lunch time
- That little window
- The doctor is ready
- Monster legs
- Pasty face
- Make-up
- Teachers are not in charge here
- Cock-a-doodle-do
- The homeless shelter
- Curse words
- Stinky Socks
- The homeless boy
- The magi don’t like the cold
- Don’t get left back
- Where the heck is vineland?
- On the move
- My escape
- You’re not bilingual anymore
- The crush
- The hickey
- Halloween
- A push from behind
- From student to teacher
- The cheerleader
- The latin dance club
- The locker
- Maybe a boyfriend?
- Some kind of boyfriend!
- A premature wedding
- The eighth-grade dance
- Skirts up!
- Baby momma
- Eighth-grade graduation
- No quinceañera
- In closing
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