Quedando Bien

Now available in a Spanish translation, this short story collection takes us from the soccer field to the seashore. Her spunky Latinas navigate the uncertain waters of adolescence in Miami. The stories' protagonists juggle the traditional burdens of middle school and high school coupled with the stresses of living those burdens in a foreign culture.

Bernardo crafts a panorama of intelligent and spirited young girls struggling to find a place for themselves. Like when Sari wants to talk about boys and school with her friends instead of babysitting for Grandma, who always asks her to translate the most embarrassing things . . . or when Clari stews in her room after she's grounded because the snippy old woman next door complained about Clari bending her stupid fence. . . or when Mari turns in a homemade diorama in a contest where her work must compete with all the store-bought iridescent paper and underwater photography that parents with money can buy . . .