Dancing Home

Explorations of identity always captures my attention. I first noticed this in college, and since then I have realized that regardless of the target audience, I am always fascinated by the journey. Naturally, when I first heard about Alma Flor Ada and Gabriel M. Zubizarreta's middle grades novel Dancing Home, I knew that eventually I would just have to read it.

Alma Flor Ada is well-known and respected as an author and educator, and she co-wrote this book with her son. In the book Margie's life is in flux. Her cousin from Mexico has just come to stay with her family, prompting boys in her school to once again tease her about her full name, saying, "Maaaargaaaareeetaaaa," multiple times. As a result Margie decides tries to avoid being seen with her cousin. However, her presence makes it hard to continue ignoring her Mexican roots that she has worked so hard to deny, and she starts to wonder what it really means to be American and if it is possible to honor both "her" culture and her parents'. 

As Margie is questioning the book shares plenty of insights into her inquiry and realizations as the novel progresses. Parallel to Margie's story, we also learn about her cousin Lupe and her own struggles dealing with her father's abandonment and the shifts in her own family dynamics back in Mexico, as well as finding her place in a new country.

The novel is told in third person but mostly sticks to the girls' thoughts and plot lines. As can be expected, both girls gain a better sense of understanding as the novel progresses, allowing for a nice discussion starter or individual dialogue related to empathy. The book also sprinkles in Spanish phrases here and there, something that I always love. It also incorporates a class writing assignment, prompting inquiry, as well as a natural inclusion of a famous Rubén Darío poem, A Margarita with an English translation, followed by a translation background note at the end of the book. For my dual immersion students, I like that the translation note can prompt thought about what is really important when it comes to translation - literal word for word or capturing the essence. 

For the last three years, I have read Cuando Tía Lola vino de visita (a quedarse) (the Spanish translation of Julia Alvarez's How Tía Lola Came to (Visit) Stay). In Dancing Home, Margie briefly mentions reading the book and making a connection to her life. Just as I was thinking it was a perfect connection as Miguel is also sifting through identity related thoughts thinking about his Dominican relatives and is also originally embarrassed about his aunt who comes to visit from the islands, I was surprised to realize that link was not made. Rather, Margie thinks about the divorce connection when trying to understand how Lupe must feel. Nonetheless, the additional clear links are present, and these two texts would be excellent to pair together. I think that it would be beneficial to have Dancing Home as a read aloud either before or after Alvarez's book, providing excellent opportunities to see how different characters navigate their feelings related to identity. 

So many possibilities for this novel as an educator and a parent...