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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Quick, accessible read with a believable teen voice and all the makings of a YA classic. I kind of wish it came packaged with a copy of Gabi's zine, which was a brilliant addition.
Interesting at times but felt like it was lacking a satisfying ending.
Was at first a little jarred by the writing style but then realized it sounded so much like my own high school journal entries (just, thankfully, a whole lot less annoying and cringeworthy).
3.8⭐
Really liked! Kinda reminds me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but make it Mexican and somewhat less depressing in a way (that I can't explain)...sorry.
Really liked! Kinda reminds me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but make it Mexican and somewhat less depressing in a way (that I can't explain)...sorry.
Gabi a Girl in Pieces was an amazing book! I was able to read it really fast and enjoyed the journal entry formatting! Throughout the book Gabi, a big, Mexican girl, struggles with her insecurities about her weight and skin color, along with friendship and boy issues. Soon into the book the readers learn that Gabi’s best friend is pregnant and her other best friend was gay (in a very religious community). Gabi also experiments with different boys until she falls in love with Martin, a feminist and poet who accepts Gabi for who she is. Overall I really enjoyed this novel and recommend this book to anyone. It was really relatable when Gabi wrote about her insecurities and was empowering to watch her grow as a person.
I liked the character, but the story didn't really land for me.
I loved every page of this book! If I had been born in Southern CA I feel like I would have been just like Gabi. She's funny, smart, hardworking, determined, and ready to move out.
I laughed out loud throughout this book because Gabi is just so funny. Her character is relatable to teenage girls all over the world.
Gabi, is hoping her dream school, Berkeley, will accept her and she can finally move out, but Algebra II is holding her back-for the fourth year in a row.
Gabi's best friends Cindy and Sebastian are the three musketeers and tell one another everything. The trio work together to support Sebastian as he is kicked out of his house for coming out, Gabi's father's death, when Cindy finds out she's pregnant, and when Gabi, out of a fit of anger, gets herself suspended from school and is at risk of losing her acceptance to Berkeley.
This is such an amazing book. It discusses so many themes that are relevant to young adults such as homosexuality, rape, death, grief, culture and exploration of the double standards and expectations of girls versus boys.
I laughed out loud throughout this book because Gabi is just so funny. Her character is relatable to teenage girls all over the world.
Gabi, is hoping her dream school, Berkeley, will accept her and she can finally move out, but Algebra II is holding her back-for the fourth year in a row.
Gabi's best friends Cindy and Sebastian are the three musketeers and tell one another everything. The trio work together to support Sebastian as he is kicked out of his house for coming out, Gabi's father's death, when Cindy finds out she's pregnant, and when Gabi, out of a fit of anger, gets herself suspended from school and is at risk of losing her acceptance to Berkeley.
This is such an amazing book. It discusses so many themes that are relevant to young adults such as homosexuality, rape, death, grief, culture and exploration of the double standards and expectations of girls versus boys.
Gabi and her mother have very different opinions about sex and what it means to be a “good” girl. Throughout the book, Gabi is struggling to make her way through her own beliefs and figuring out how to live them. She does want to be a good girl, but what that looks like for her is a different picture than that of her family members. Gabi’s family often drives her crazy, but they are hugely important to her. She does her best to be true to herself, but being respectful of her family almost always takes precedence. She may think all kinds of snarky and hilarious things about her mother’s comments, but that doesn’t mean she’ll say them.
Gabi is a girl full of love – love for her family and love for her friends and boyfriend. A theme that runs throughout the book is that people are contradictory and faulty, but we can walk away or choose to accept them and love them anyway. Those are our choices because we can’t count on changing anyone. Gabi has learned this the hard way as she’s watched her family and father deal with his meth addiction. At one point she writes that her city is known for smog and overcrowded highways and not for it’s love of gay people, “But still…I love my city with the same force that I love my dad. There’s no escaping my roots, and I guess it’s better to embrace them than cut them.”
Gabi wrestles with her roots and the restrictions that they seem to place on her especially in the area of her body image and her behavior as a girl. The cover art includes the words Gordita and Fatgirl though those adjectives are crossed out. Body image comes into play right away. Gabi loves food and writes about it often, yet feels the need to lose weight. The people around her are not always helpful either. Her mother says things like, “You’re getting fatter than a pregnant woman.” Over the course of the year, Gabi’s thoughts and feelings about her body do change. Her weight is not so much a “problem to solve” as I have seen in other young adult novels.
The gender issues also abound. Her brother is younger and has freedoms that she will never have simply because he’s male. It’s not restricted to her family though. The phrase “boys will be boys” comes up more than once with discussion around what actions boys are allowed to get away with that are completely unacceptable.
Beyond body image and gender roles, Gabi also explores what she refers to as her Mexicanness. She has very light skin so people sometimes think she’s white and she has to “give them a history lesson.” People don’t even expect her to know Spanish. Speaking of Spanish, there was quite a discussion about the language use in this book back in January around the Morris Nominations. A reviewer noted, “the lack of a backmatter glossary does strike me as a significant design flaw, and it’s really a shame.” The book is made up of journal entries which are written in a casual voice. Gabi is meant to be her honest, true self in these entries. Her honest true self uses both English and Spanish so there are Spanish words and phrases throughout the book. Sometimes, like in the above excerpt, there is a translation. Other times, the context would help a reader unfamiliar with the language, and sometimes, there is not enough in the context to figure it out. I may not have always fully understood what was meant, but I believe that my reading experience was enriched by the realistic language patterns and usage. Also, a glossary would say this book is designed for people who only speak English rather than a girl like Gabi herself. By writing it this way, the book is like Gabi, standing on its own saying “This is who I am.” If a particular word or passage left me confused, online translations were easily available. I can’t help but remember this same type of experience with the book Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery. With that particular book, the author M. Evelina Galang also wrote text that freely flowed between languages. I loved her explanation of why she didn’t include a glossary - http://www.mevelinagalang.com/pdf/In-Context-or-why-there-is-no-glossary.pdf
And then there’s the poetry. With everything that is going on in Gabi’s life, poetry becomes her therapy. She finds meaning and understanding through her writing and the poetry that her teacher is sharing. This is a character trying to find her own voice. Poetry and the writing in her diary are a way that she ventures out to use that voice.
Recommendation: Buy it now. Gabi is a character that everyone should get a chance to meet. Gabi faces difficult situations with vulnerability, honesty and an abundance of humor. I didn’t want to say goodbye.
Gabi is a girl full of love – love for her family and love for her friends and boyfriend. A theme that runs throughout the book is that people are contradictory and faulty, but we can walk away or choose to accept them and love them anyway. Those are our choices because we can’t count on changing anyone. Gabi has learned this the hard way as she’s watched her family and father deal with his meth addiction. At one point she writes that her city is known for smog and overcrowded highways and not for it’s love of gay people, “But still…I love my city with the same force that I love my dad. There’s no escaping my roots, and I guess it’s better to embrace them than cut them.”
Gabi wrestles with her roots and the restrictions that they seem to place on her especially in the area of her body image and her behavior as a girl. The cover art includes the words Gordita and Fatgirl though those adjectives are crossed out. Body image comes into play right away. Gabi loves food and writes about it often, yet feels the need to lose weight. The people around her are not always helpful either. Her mother says things like, “You’re getting fatter than a pregnant woman.” Over the course of the year, Gabi’s thoughts and feelings about her body do change. Her weight is not so much a “problem to solve” as I have seen in other young adult novels.
The gender issues also abound. Her brother is younger and has freedoms that she will never have simply because he’s male. It’s not restricted to her family though. The phrase “boys will be boys” comes up more than once with discussion around what actions boys are allowed to get away with that are completely unacceptable.
Beyond body image and gender roles, Gabi also explores what she refers to as her Mexicanness. She has very light skin so people sometimes think she’s white and she has to “give them a history lesson.” People don’t even expect her to know Spanish. Speaking of Spanish, there was quite a discussion about the language use in this book back in January around the Morris Nominations. A reviewer noted, “the lack of a backmatter glossary does strike me as a significant design flaw, and it’s really a shame.” The book is made up of journal entries which are written in a casual voice. Gabi is meant to be her honest, true self in these entries. Her honest true self uses both English and Spanish so there are Spanish words and phrases throughout the book. Sometimes, like in the above excerpt, there is a translation. Other times, the context would help a reader unfamiliar with the language, and sometimes, there is not enough in the context to figure it out. I may not have always fully understood what was meant, but I believe that my reading experience was enriched by the realistic language patterns and usage. Also, a glossary would say this book is designed for people who only speak English rather than a girl like Gabi herself. By writing it this way, the book is like Gabi, standing on its own saying “This is who I am.” If a particular word or passage left me confused, online translations were easily available. I can’t help but remember this same type of experience with the book Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery. With that particular book, the author M. Evelina Galang also wrote text that freely flowed between languages. I loved her explanation of why she didn’t include a glossary - http://www.mevelinagalang.com/pdf/In-Context-or-why-there-is-no-glossary.pdf
And then there’s the poetry. With everything that is going on in Gabi’s life, poetry becomes her therapy. She finds meaning and understanding through her writing and the poetry that her teacher is sharing. This is a character trying to find her own voice. Poetry and the writing in her diary are a way that she ventures out to use that voice.
Recommendation: Buy it now. Gabi is a character that everyone should get a chance to meet. Gabi faces difficult situations with vulnerability, honesty and an abundance of humor. I didn’t want to say goodbye.
Uses the R word. Do not recommend
Uses the R word. Do not recommend.
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Uses the R word. Do not recommend.
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Uses the R word. Do not recommend.
Uses the R word. Do not recommend.
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Uses the R word. Do not recommend.
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Uses the R word. Do not recommend.
I really love Gabi. She's real, smart, feisty, strong, and a fierce friend. What's not to love!?