A review by hooleigha
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

3.0

Lala has six older brothers and struggles to find privacy and identity in the mix of her loud, crowded, very traditional family. Accompanied by her uncles, aunts, and cousins, Lala's family spends the summers driving down to Mexico City to see the Awful Grandmother and little Grandfather until a family secret is revealed that sours already-precarious relationships. The book is comprised of vignettes, poetry, and classic fiction writing, culminating in three parts that follow a family legacy through the twentieth century. Themes include: family and tradition, Mexican-American culture, generational curses, abandonment, forgiveness, immigration, the balance between lying and storytelling, mysticism, and family heirlooms.