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A Place in El Paso - by Gloria López-Stafford (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- This memoir of growing up in El Paso in the 1940s and 1950s creates an entire city: the way a barrio awakens in the early morning sun, the thrill of a rare desert snow, the taste of fruit-flavored raspadas on summer afternoons, the "money boys" who beg from commuters passing back and forth to Juárez, and the mischief of children entertaining themselves in the streets.
- Author(s): Gloria López-Stafford
- 222 Pages
- Biography + Autobiography, Cultural, Ethnic & Regional
Description
About the Book
This memoir of growing up in El Paso in the 1940s and 1950s creates an entire city: the way a barrio awakens in the early morning sun, the thrill of a rare desert snow, the taste of fruit-flavored raspadas on summer afternoons, the "money boys" who beg from commuters passing back and forth to Juárez, and the mischief of children entertaining themselves in the streets.Book Synopsis
This memoir of growing up in El Paso in the 1940s and 1950s creates an entire city: the way a barrio awakens in the early morning sun, the thrill of a rare desert snow, the taste of fruit-flavored raspadas on summer afternoons, the "money boys" who beg from commuters passing back and forth to Juárez, and the mischief of children entertaining themselves in the streets. López-Stafford shows readers El Paso through the eyes of Yoya--short for Gloria--the high-spirited narrator, who is five years old when the book begins.
Yoya is a survivor. Her young mother has died, leaving her in the care of her much older father, who tries to provide for his family by selling used clothing. Her brother Carlos, Padre Luna, and a community of children and women assume responsibility for Yoya, but like the inexplicable loss of her mother, unexpected changes separate her from her beloved barrio. The search for su lugar, her place, becomes a search for identity as Gloria seeks to understand her various homes and families.
From the Back Cover
This book shows the reader El Paso through the eyes of Yoya- short for Gloria- the high-spirited narrator, who is five years old when the book begins.Review Quotes
." . . well-written, entertaining and yet another reminder that not everyone in our country grew up in the safe secluded suburbs."
"The book is literally the salsa in Chicana/o history."
"The people inhabiting Gloria's world embody the historical forces that have shaped the border. . . . It is a well-written book that has as much to offer to the scholar as to the more casual reader."
"Lopez-Stafford embraces hope as well as pain while recounting childhood in a culturally insensitive world. With warmth, courage and humor she demonstrates that none of us need be a victim."