Not being American, I've never really understood their system (primaries?) but this is still an engaging story of a young girl realising she needs to fight for her beliefs. It reminds me a little of Moxie, both in style and in one particular set piece.
I liked Mari's original friends better than her new friends, but they were all important in different ways. Her mother was nice, if a little passive. Her father was certainly a - piece of work, wasn't he? I didn't like Joe either, but that was clearly the aim, and it was very well done.
Overall I liked this read, I thought it was interesting and thought provoking, and Mari is my new favourite character.
“I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say their fake lines which I was probably going to mess up anyways in front of the whole freaking country, and they were going to go into my room, did you know that? They were going to go into my room with all their cameras and zoom in on the pictures on my desk and the posters on my walls, even though Mami replaced them with these horrible motivational posters that made my room look like a freaking fifth grade classroom, it’s like, is nothing sacred anymore? Like I don’t feel constantly on display enough already. Not even this one space that’s mine is mine anymore. I don’t want to do this. They can’t make me. I just wanted them to leave me alone. Just this one time, just for this one stupid interview. I begged them and they wouldn’t listen. What was I supposed to do?”
By the time I’m done, Amarys is holding me, and I just know I’m like one breath away from ugly sobbing.
She hugs me so tight she rocks me side to side. “It’s okay, nena. It’s going to be okay. I’m not gonna lie to you . . . it’s probably going to get a lot worse first. ¿Me entiendes? But you’re strong and you’re gonna keep being strong, and it’ll get better, you got it?”
When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.
In this thoughtful, authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.
But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it?
“I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say their fake lines which I was probably going to mess up anyways in front of the whole freaking country, and they were going to go into my room, did you know that? They were going to go into my room with all their cameras and zoom in on the pictures on my desk and the posters on my walls, even though Mami replaced them with these horrible motivational posters that made my room look like a freaking fifth grade classroom, it’s like, is nothing sacred anymore? Like I don’t feel constantly on display enough already. Not even this one space that’s mine is mine anymore. I don’t want to do this. They can’t make me. I just wanted them to leave me alone. Just this one time, just for this one stupid interview. I begged them and they wouldn’t listen. What was I supposed to do?”
By the time I’m done, Amarys is holding me, and I just know I’m like one breath away from ugly sobbing.
She hugs me so tight she rocks me side to side. “It’s okay, nena. It’s going to be okay. I’m not gonna lie to you . . . it’s probably going to get a lot worse first. ¿Me entiendes? But you’re strong and you’re gonna keep being strong, and it’ll get better, you got it?”
When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.
In this thoughtful, authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.
But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it?
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