Choice 评论
This slim book describes the intersection of gender, race, and migration in contemporary works by five Latina writers: Denise Chavez's Loving Pedro Infante, Sandra Cisneros's Caramello, Marta Moreno Vega's When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio, Angie Cruz's Let It Rain Coffee, and Marie Arana's American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood. Each book depicts, in its own way, a transnational conversation among Latin American and US cultures, histories, and politics. Heredia (Northern Arizona Univ.) rightly points out the crucial role that migration (often repeat migration), memory, and official history (looked at with a critical eye) play in these works. The writers Heredia considers represent a variety of ethnicities (e.g. mestizo, mulatto, Asian) and national heritages (e.g. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Peruvian). Moreover, they feature the perspectives of female protagonists on transnational identity themes. Though the study would have benefited from a more analytical orientation and from rigorous editing, it introduces the uninitiated to the work of some talented Latina writers and provides full notes and a good bibliography for those who would like to learn more about this rich vein in contemporary literature. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. D. L. Heyck Loyola University Chicago