Caramelo Blog 1

I read this book 10 years ago when I was 19 years old. I remember thinking it was such an awesome book but I never took the time to pick up on the details. I have always said it was one of my favorite books out of all the books that I have read, but I couldnt remember why. So, I started reading it again and was quickly reminded why I was so impressed with it in the first place. The story is about of girl of Mexican heritage who tells tales of her family over a break up of decades. The story starts out with Lala (the main character) and her family on their way to see the Awful Grandmother who lives in Mexico. On the car drive from Chicago to Mexico Lala tells of her father Incencio and her mother Zoila. She describes her Uncles Fat Face and Uncle Baby.  She tells of their wives and their children. Uncle Fat Face has a beautiful wife from Mexico, but is very jealous and infatuated with her heavy set bald-headed husband. Uncle Baby's wife is a 1st generation Italian that he met in Chicago who smokes like a freight train. She has plastic on all of her furniture and everything is white. The kids are nervous to touch anything when they visit. All three brothers upholster furniture and moved from Mexico to Chicago. Every summer they go to Mexico to visit their mother and father.  They all race down in their cars while the kids hang out of the windows and fight for stops to sit in the crammed cars.  My favorite part of the book is when Lala talks about once they get outside of Mexico City. She says that her mind may forget the sights and smells of the city, but her body always remembers. She is so descriptive in all of her passages.  She describes the sights and smells of Mexico City. She talks of the cramped life style in their apartment back in Chicago, crowded ride in the car, being the only girl out of five children, being her daddys little girl, her mother being jealous of her grandmother and her grandmother being jealous Lala.The story is kind of confusing at first until you get to know all the characters. It jumps from decade to decade, summer to summer, year to year, ect. The reason for this is to introduce the characters from the Awful Grandmother, her father, and then herself. I am excited to read more this weekend.

Read time: 115 minutes November 2, 2011