Going Home
Grade 5-8 This book marks the return of Felita (Dial, 1979), the title character of Mohr's previous book about a Puerto Rican family in New York. She is three years older now, and life has changed. Her grandmother has died, and Tio Jorge, Abuelita's brother, is returning to Puerto Rico and has asked Felita to spend the summer there with him. She is delighted. She longs to see the land about which Abuelita has told her so many stories. She is also glad of the opportunity to escape the strict supervision that she, now entering puberty, must endure in her Hispanic culture. Felita's summer, however, is not quite as she had imagined. Her Puerto Rican relatives are as strict as her parents. Tio Jorge seems to spend most of his time mourning the passing of old ways; and some of the kids in Tio Jorge's small village resent her as an outsider, a "Nuyorican." Felita, who has previously dealt with prejudice, must find a way to blend both parts of her background into her emerging identity. The story is told in Felita's vital, colloquial voice and breaks naturally into two parts: the period before her journey which describes her neighborhood, friendships and her growing relationship with a Colombian boy; and the summer in Puerto Rico. A bit melodramatic in the telling, the style accurately reflects Felita's strong, emotional responses to life, and the casual, occasionally earthy language brings a liveliness and veracity to her pictures of life in New York City and Puerto Rico. Felita is a vivid, memorable character, well realized and well developed. It is a pleasure to welcome her back. Christine Behrmann, New York Public Lib .Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.