Under the Mesquite

By Guadalupe García McCall
Hardcover: $21.95

Lupita, a budding actor and poet in a close-knit Mexican American immigrant family, comes of age as she struggles with adult responsibilities during her mother’s long illness.

Audiobook Edition

Description

As the oldest of eight siblings, Lupita is used to taking the lead-and staying busy behind the scenes to help keep everyone together. But when she discovers Mami has been diagnosed with cancer, Lupita is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican American family. Suddenly Lupita must face a whole new set of challenges, with new roles to play, and no one is handing her the script.

In the midst of juggling life as a high school student, testing her wings as an actress, and dealing with friends who don’t always understand, Lupita desperately wants to support Mami in whatever way she can. While her father stays with Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she escapes the chaos of home by writing in the shade of a mesquite tree. Overwhelmed by change and loss, she takes refuge in the healing power of words.

Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita’s journey is both heart-wrenching and hopeful. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about the testing of family bonds, the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience, and the kind of love that cannot be uprooted.

About the Creators

Guadalupe García McCall
Guadalupe García McCall

Guadalupe García McCall is the best-selling author of Summer of the Mariposas and won the Pura Belpré Award for her first novel, Under the Mesquite. She was born in Mexico and moved to Texas as a young girl, keeping close ties with family on both sides of the border. She is a full-time author and abuelita and lives with her husband in South Texas. Find her online at ggmccall.com.

Awards

  • Pura Belpré Author Award Winner

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • ALSC Notable Children's Books

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • Américas Award Honor

    Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs

  • Notable Books for a Global Society

    International Literacy Association (ILA)

  • Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist

    The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN)

  • William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist

    Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

  • Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award

    Texas State University College of Education

  • International Latino Book Award Honor

    Empowering Latino Futures

  • Best Children's Books of the Year

    Bank Street College of Education

  • CCBC Choices

    Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

  • Best Teen Books

    Kirkus Reviews

  • Outstanding Books for the College Bound

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • Best of the Best Books

    Chicago Public Library

  • Lone Star Reading List

    Texas Library Association (TLA)

Reviews

  • * "A promising, deeply felt debut."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "Like the mesquite tree of the title, Lupita is sturdy and able to survive harsh climates with great potential for recovering from stress. . . The close-knit family relationships, especially Mami and Lupita's, are vividly portrayed, as is the healing comfort Lupita finds in words, whether written in her notebooks or performed onstage."

    - Booklist
  • "Powerful and tremendously honest. . . The titular mesquite tree serves as both a literal reference to the tree that grows among her mother's rose bushes and a metaphor for the tree's renowned adaptability and ability to reach out to find sustenance. This is ultimately a coming-of-age story of a girl who manages to build on her strengths as she copes with emotional hardship, and McCall's is a fresh new voice in Latino/a writing."

    - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
  • "This book will appeal to many teens for different reasons, whether they have dealt with the loss of a loved one, aspire to write and act, are growing up Mexican American, or seeking their own identity amid a large family. Bravo to McCall for a beautiful first effort."

    - School Library Journal

Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781600604294
  • Price $21.95
  • Publication Date Apr 01, 2013
  • Trim Size 8.75 × 6 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Page Count 240
  • Word Count 16484
  • Interests

  • Imprint Lee & Low Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Social Themes / Death, Grief, Bereavement
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Family / General
  • Themes Conflict resolution, Coping with Death, Courage, Dreams & Aspirations, Education, Empathy / Compassion, Families, Fiction, Gratitude, Home, Identity / Self Esteem / Confidence, Immigration, Integrity / Honesty, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, Leadership, Middle Grade, Mothers, Optimism / Enthusiasm, Overcoming Obstacles, Persistence / Grit, Poetry, Poverty, Pride, Realistic Fiction, Responsibility, Self Control / Self Regulation, Sharing & Giving, Siblings, Social & Emotional Learning, YA interest
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 11 - 17
  • Grade Range Grades 6 - 12
  • Guided Reading X
  • ATOS Book Level 5.7
  • DRA 60
  • Interest Level Grades 6 - 12
  • Lexile Level 990
  • Reading Level Grades 6 - 7
  • SRC 8.4
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

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