Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi: A girl in pieces. TX: Cinco Puntos.
This novel, in journal format, takes us with Gabi through her crazy senior year of high school. Her family always tells her, “Ojos abiertos, piernas cerradas” (“Eyes open, legs shut.”) because obviously girls who get raped or get pregnant were “asking for it” and that “boys will be boys.” So Gabi starts her year with her best girlfriend telling her that she is pregnant, immediately followed by her best guy friend telling his parents he is gay and getting kicked out of his house. The rest of her year is up and down with finding a great boyfriend, her dad’s death, helping her mortal enemy, finding her love of writing and poetry, and defending her friend’s honor. Gabi’s ‘zine, which appears near the end of the book, was created from Gabi’s desire to inform other girls about the realities of the female body, unlike her introduction to it. She points out how all of the female body parts have been objectified or labeled as “dirty,” when really they’re just parts of our body and not inherently bad. This is a wonderful book. I would recommend it to any girl, 8th grade and up.
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