The Smell of Old Lady Perfume

September 1, 2008
Gr 4-6-Chela Gonzalez and her friend Nora are looking forward to sixth grade in their El Paso school. They have finally been placed in the A-class, the "smart class," which is for students who only speak English. Then Chela's father has a stroke on the first day of school, her grandmother comes to help out, and "the air became thick with the smell of old lady perfume, of dying flowers and alcohol]. It was the smell of bad things." Nora becomes a member of the popular group of girls who've decided to make her an outcast. Chela is asked to enroll in the Gifted and Talented group that meets after school, which helps to ease her loneliness. Her father suffers another stroke, fatal this time, and again the smell of old-lady perfume fills the little house. The book ends with the family trying to regroup after their loss. Chela is rewarded with the highest honor at the school's end-of-year awards ceremonythe All School Girl award. Through her pride, her sadness is also evident since her father was the one who always pushed her to do her best. This is a sweet coming-of-age story, telling of the cruelties of children toward one another and dealing with the loss of a parent. The story should appeal to readers dealing with their own tween years."Diana Pierce, Leander High School, TX"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2008
As she starts sixth grade, 11-year-old Chela is straddling two borders, the figurative one between childhood and adolescence and the real one that divides Ciudad Juarez from El Paso. Chela is devastated when her new classmates in Texas laugh at her accented English and jeeringly call her a Juaranota. Then her best friend, Nora, abandons her to join a clique of popular girls. These problems pale, however, after her beloved father suffers a stroke and can no longer work. Her grandmother comes to help (it is her perfume that pervades the household), but fear and worry surround the family. Martinezs highly episodic first novel is a quiet story that is, perhaps, a bit too predictable, filled with such coming-of-age staples as mean girls, popularity contests, first romances, sibling rivalries, and more. However, readers will also find the books loving portrayal of Chelas family, its nicely realized setting, and its artful exploration of the problems of assimilation, to be both engaging and heartfelt. Michael Cart(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)