HOPKINS AWARD POETRY: UNDER THE MESQUITE Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Bibliography: 

McCall, Guadalupe Garcia. Under the Mesquite. New York: Lee & Low, 2011. Print.

Review: 

Under the Mesquite is a verse novel that tells the story of Lupita, the eldest of eight, over the course of around eight years. True to the nature of a young adult novel, Under the Mesquite is a combination of coming of age events, including the devastation of  cancer and disease on a family, and specifically the implications of cancer in a Mexican-American family. Garcia-McCall creates a free verse novel that reads with the strong voice of Lupita. The emotions and thoughts of Lupita are so accurately articulated that you feel as though the young girl herself is telling the story. However, the descriptions are not childish in literary merit. For example, the line "the lawns looked well behaved/and boring. The grass grew obediently/ beside the clean sidewalks/along the paved streets,/each green blade standing upright/ like a tiny solider. While this is an innocent description of the grass and land in which her family now lives, it is not a watered down version of a description. 

The novel is also divided into six parts mapping out the life of Lupita through their losses and triumphs, and Garcia-McCall includes a helpful glossary of Spanish words and cultural references. Under the Mesquite also won the Pura Belpre Award for its outstanding work of literature for children and youth. The award is much deserved and accurately portrays the struggles and intimacies of a Mexican- American family. 

Spotlight Poem:

Chismosa, a word that is so often spoken in Hispanic families, a word that takes on its own meaning depending on the family and its usage, a word that is both endearing and punitive. In my own experience the word can become playful and silly as well as insulting and rude, and this poem does a similar pattern. In the moment when the mother calls her daughter a chismosa it is because she is embarrassed, but in the end you can tell that it was because she was taken by surprise at her daughters gumption. I like this poem because it shows the interpersonal side of a culture and its language.  

Chismosa

I thought I was being clever
by sitting just outside the kitchen window, 
but I was wrong. 

!Chismosa! Mami chastises me
when she catches me eavesdropping 
on her and her comadres.
Then she orders me to go scrub
the bathrooms, toilets, and all.

After her friends leave, 
Mami calls me into her and Papi's room.
"You embarrassed me today,"
she says, sitting on the edge of the bed
with her arms folded. 
...
"It's okay," I whisper
against her cheek. "I know."
My heart aches
because I have heard the word 
that she keeps tucked away
behind closed doors.

"What do you know?" Mami asks.

We lock eyes,
and she knows I know.

"Don't tell the others," she begs,
and I hold her while she cries it out.

Follow-up Activity:

As a follow-up, I would have students brainstorm a list of words that he or she uses within their family that can be used as an insult or a term of endearment. I would point out that it is these words that create a small family culture that contributes to an overall culture. I would also ask the students to share their list of (school appropriate words) so that students can enrich their own knowledge of various cultures, within a broader culture.