The Tequila Worm

November 21, 2005
This tender first novel suffers somewhat from an awkward structure. Narrator Sofia, whose life story hews closely to the author's own Texas barrio-to–Harvard Law trajectory, begins by relating quotidian childhood experiences as vignettes. Three successive chapters go from first communion to dyeing Easter cascarones
to trick-or-treating. A quarter of the way into the novel, she is suddenly 14 and has been offered a scholarship to a boarding school in Austin, Tex., 350 miles from her home in McAllen. The loosely connected anecdotes then shift to a conventional narrative thread about convincing her parents to let her attend. What will keep readers enthralled are the details of Sofia's home life—from the sobremesa,
a "sacred time" after dinner in which the family reconnects through conversation, to the worm of the title, a critter soaked in mescal that acts as a "cure for homesickness" when eaten. Readers may well feel unprepared for both a death at novel's end and Sofia's out-of-the-blue neighborhood activism—but the characters are real and engaging, the vignettes funny and enlightening, and Sofia's lack of cynicism is refreshing. Ages 12-up.

watermelongirl5 - The Tequila Worm is a heartwarming book that will teach you the true meaning of family. Sofia is a teenage girl that comes from a Mexican-American family, she is very determined , but , she has a caring side to herself. Sofia spends most of her time with her family and learning how to be a comadre . I love that Sofia pushes herself through bulling and gets her grades up. But soon she sees that her grades has brought her to a "fork in the road" where she needs to chose a new life path. Sofia has to choose between sticking by her family or exploring a new mundo at a boarding school of rich kids. I wish i could give a half star , but I can't :( If you read this book i assure you that once you read this book Sofia's story is one you won't forget .