UNDER THE MESQUITE

McCall, Guadalupe Garcia.  Under the Mesquite.  New York:  Lee & Low Books Inc., 2011.  ISBN 978-1-60060-429-4.

Plot Summary

Lupita and her seven siblings must learn to survive when their mother is diagnosed with cancer.  She also struggles with finding her identity as a native of Mexico who has been uprooted and transplanted into the United States.

 

 

Critical Analysis

Under the Mesquite is divided into six sections.  This story is based on McCall and her family.  McCall, aka Lupita, narrates the story from the time she is a freshman in high school until she arrives at her college campus.  It is hard to imagine that Under the Mesquite is McCall's debut novel.  The words in her verse novel fall from the pages with the power of a waterfall but as sweet as the morning dew.  Lupita's story is one of triumph in spite of tragedy.  She used theatre classes and poetry writing to help her cope with her mother's cancer and subsequent death.  When her drama teacher told Lupita that she was a natural because she could cry on cue, she vehemently disagreed.  "I'm not faking it, Mr. Cortés.  My life's a nightmare -- that's why I can cry when I act."

When Lupita was eight years old, her family moved from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas, United States.  Her father had worked in the U.S. for many years and he brought his family over the border to create a better life for them.  He and Lupita would practice their English together, "words that tasted like lemon drops, tart and sweet at the same time."

Life seemed to be going well for Lupita's family.  Lupita's Mami thought that eight children were a blessing from God.  "To her, bebés are like pennies from heaven.  The more you have, the richer you become."  Up until this moment in time, the worst Lupita had to endure was living in the same house as her five younger sisters.  Her mother had to put them in time-out when their squabbles reached a deafening crescendo.  Lupita described it this way, "six sisters would do penance in separate closets, teary eyes closed, praying for someone we could get along with."

It is implied that Lupita and her family are devote Catholics because Lupita attends confirmation and makes a deal with God to surrender her life to him if He will save her mother.  Lupita vows to become a nun, but her mother won't allow her to join the convent.  Later, Lupita, Papi, and her siblings go to "la iglesia" and say a prayer for Mami. 

The cultural markers include a vast array of words such as:  "telenovela," "ratoncita," "secretos," "tesoro," "los Estados Unidos," "El Águila," "mi amor," "comadres," "Diosito," "abuelito," "mercado"...the list could go on, and on, and on.  McCall included a 14-page glossary in the back of her book entitled "Names, Spanish Words, and Cultural References."  This would be very beneficial for readers who are unfamiliar with the culture and language of Mexico. 

The food and beverages McCall described are as colorful as the "matachines" who perform during the holiday parades in Mexico.  "Napales en salsa," "agua de tamarindo," "chocolaty gravy of mole on a bed of Spanish rice," "pínole," "testales," and "los elotes calientes" which are "muy rico y picoso."

The only music mentioned was a harmonica and the two songs "Las mañanitas" and "Los tres cochinitos."  The mode of transportation was an old blue Ford pickup.  McCall describes the skin tones of some of her characters:  Lupita sees herself as "a bronzed mermaid," Mami's skin "is a darker, richer brown," Papi is "güero," and the boys are as "dark as old pennies."  Mami wears her long, dark hair plaited.  Abuelita covers her head and shoulders with a "mantilla."   

When her mother is about to be released from the hospital, her father buys Mami "a blue linen dress embroidered with dozens of calla lilies, their white petals folded demurely as if in prayer, and all around them hundreds of turtledoves."  Lupita describes the normal dress of a Mexican-American teenager as jeans and tennis shoes.  After she has passed her "quinceañera," Lupita is not pleased that she must dress in pantyhose and two inch heels.  She feels that she has lost herself and doesn't know who she is anymore.  "Señorita is a niña, the girl I used to be, who has lost her voice."

In addition to trying to find her way as she nears adulthood, her peers question her new-found American accent.  She doesn't understand how they think she is any less Mexican because she no longer speaks with a Spanish accent.  "Changing how I talk doesn't change who I am, I know where I came from...I couldn't be more Mexican if you stamped a cactus on my forehead."

Her mother's sickness put a tremendous load on the entire family.  Lupita encourages her father to take her mother to Galveston for treatment while she takes care of her seven younger siblings.  Lupita's father is not so sure that would be a good idea.  He thinks Lupita's task will be as easy as "pouring a truckload of wet concrete through a six-inch sieve."  When Lupita's friend told her people with cancer will die, she is in denial that this will be the fate of her beloved Mami.  However, Lupita does not forget what her friend has said, and Lupita recalls, "her words rattle around in my head like an old dime tumbling down an empty well."  McCall eloquently put the emotional strain into words when describing the pain Lupita and her father were going through.  When her father reacted in anger, Lupita knew the anger was not directed at her.  "So when I feel his anger blowing my way, I hold my breath and try to see through it.  But then the smoke burns my eyes till they start to water, and I know it's time to move -- find a clear spot away from the smoldering coals."  Lupita also described her own inner torture as death moved closer to her mother's side.  "Waiting for La Muerte to take Mami is like being bound, lying  face up on the sacrificial altar of the god Huitzilopochtli, pleading with the Aztec priest, asking him to be kind while he rips out my heart."

McCall's story can be very healing to readers who have lost a loved one or have tried to fit into a new culture.  All can feel the heartache Lupita endured as she watched her mother slowly succumb to her cancer.  In spite of her loss, Lupita managed to find fresh hope and began a new chapter in her life.  Readers who are currently struggling through a dark time in their young lives can cling to the idea that all is not lost.   Hope is on the horizon.  In the words of Papi, "you have to start living again."

Awards and Honors

 

Pura Belpré Award, 2012 Winner Author United States

Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, 2012 Honor
     Book United States

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, 2013 Winner Texas,
     United States

Notable Book for a Global Society, 2012

William C. Morris Award, 2012 Finalist United States

Choices, 2012 Cooperative Children's Book Centre

Kirkus Best Young Adult Books, 2011 Kirkus

Notable Children's Books, 2012 ALSC American Library Association

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2012 American Library Association

YALSA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 2012

 

 

Review Excerpts

“The mesquite tree is resilient; it survives the harshest of climates and its roots can survive even when torn from the ground. It is an appropriate symbol in this story, told in verse, of Lupita.  Young readers will find a sister in Lupita and will remember her words long after finishing the book..” ~ Emily Rozmus, Library Media Connection, Jan/Feb 2012

"This book will appeal to many teens for different reasons, whether they have dealt with the loss of a loved one, aspire to write and act, are growing up Mexican American, or seeking their own identity amid a large family.” ~ Jill Heritage Maza, School Library Journal, October 2011 

 

"This story is filled with ideas concerning self and cultural identity, grief, and the strength of family. Lupita is a smart, compassionate character with which readers will quickly identify and sympathize.” ~ Amanda Fensch, Voice of Youth Advocates, October 2011


Other Books Written by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Summer of the Mariposas

Visit her website for more information:  www.guadalupegarciamccall.com/


Book Connections

Parrot in the Oven:  Mi Vida:  A Novel by Victor Martinez
Angels Ride Bikes and Other Fall Poems by Francisco X. Alarcaon
Confetti:  Poems for Children by Pat Mora


Connection Activities

• Listen to the following poetry podcasts by Guadalupe Garcia McCall:  "A Mesquite in the Rose Garden," "Making Tortillas," "Swimming the Rio Grande," and "Uprooted."  These poetry podcasts and a photo album of the "real" Lupita can be found on the Lee and Low website:  https://www.leeandlow.com/books/391/hc/under_the_mesquite.
• Write a poem about how you would feel if your family moved to a different country and you had to learn a new language.