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The Signe family is blessed with two daughters. Consuelo, the elder, is thought of as pensive and book-loving, the serious child-la niña seria-while Mili, her younger sister, is seen as vivacious, a ray of tropical sunshine. Two daughters: one dark, one light; one to offer comfort and consolation, the other to charm and delight. But, for all the joy both girls should bring, something is not right in this Puerto Rican family; a tragedia is developing, like a tumor, at its core.

In this fierce, funny, and sometimes startling novel, we follow a young woman's quest to negotiate her own terms of survival within the confines of her culture and her family.

"Judith Ortiz Cofer opens for us a window of understanding into the riches of Puerto Rican culture. Her brave, gritty narrator, Consuelo . . . is the perfect tour guide through this compelling, deeply honest novel about the pain of family secrets."
-Pam Houston, author of Cowboys Are My Weakness

"A bittersweet tale of the price one pays to reinvent the story handed down by one's antepasados and familia. Consuelo is both herself and every mujer, and her story her own and that of her island, torn between self-discovery and safety."
-Julia Alvarez, author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

"Funny and affecting, this rite of passage novel celebrates familia y cultura, and artful ways to escape them unscathed. Judith Ortiz Cofer is one of our most gifted authors."
-Latina magazine

"Judith Ortiz Cofer has created a character who takes us by the hand on a journey of self-discovery. She reminds readers young and old never to forget our own responsibilities, and to enjoy life with all its joys and sorrows."
-Bessy Reyna, MultiCultural Review

Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, and grew up on the island and in Paterson, New Jersey, before her family moved to Georgia. Ortiz Cofer is the author of ten books, including The Line of the Sun, The Latin Deli, and Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood, and her work has been published in numerous anthologies. Her book An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio has received several distinctions, including the American Library Association REFORMA Pura Belpré Honor Award, and it was also named a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.

Author's web site

Bluestreak
A paperback series of innovative literary writing by women of all colors

Includes a glossary of Spanish-language terms