Gabi, A Girl in Pieces

by Isabel Quintero

Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi, A girl in pieces. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

Gabi, a high school senior, is a light complexioned Hispanic girl who is kind of overweight and a bit self-conscious about it.  Of course that is not going to stop her from eating some delicious tacos!  Told from a diary type perspective, this story gives the reader a close up and personal view of Gabi’s life.  We meet her best friend Sebastian, who happens to be homosexual and when he comes out to his parents gets kicked out of his house and ends up living with Gabi for a while; and her other best friend Cindy, who ends up pregnant, which we later find out is due to a date rape.  We also learn a lot about Gabi’s home life.  Her father is a drug addict who appears and disappears in and out of the family’s life and eventually succumbs to a drug overdose in the garage where Gabi finds him; and her mother, while struggling with her own pregnancy and issues with her husband, expects Gabi to be a “good Mexican daughter” and stay at home to help take care of the family.  Gabi however has dreams of going off to college and becoming her own person with her own life.  Through all of this Gabi is also looking for love and hoping to find someone who loves and accepts her for who she is.  The wonderful thing about this book is how honest and real it is.  I imagine most high school girls could easily relate themselves to Gabi and aspects of their own life to hers.  It also presents a myriad of current and relevant hot topics and issues that would lead to to deep and meaningful conversations in classroom discussions.

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