Module 3: The Tequila Worm

Canales, V. (2005). The tequila worm. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

Summary

This is a wonderful book about Sofia, a young girl growing up in a barrio of McAllen, Texas. She longs to explore another life and gets an opportunity when she wins a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school in Austin. She has to convince her traditional Mexican family to allow her to make the move to Austin for high school. The book is filled with rich descriptions of her Mexican heritage, holiday traditions, and daily life in the barrio. The characters come to life through the story telling aspect of the book.

Worth Another Cup of Tea?

Definitely! Although, you might find yourself wanting some hot chocolate while reading this book because Sofia drinks it quite often throughout the book. I loved this book and highly recommend it. Canales has a gift for characterization, and everyone in the book comes to life. Living in Texas and working with Hispanic students made the book that much more interesting to me. When the book ended, I wanted to know more about the adult lives of Sofia, Berta, and Lucy. I found myself wishing there was a sequel.

Reviews

Gr 5-8-Sofia, 14, lives in McAllen, TX. What she lacks in material possessions, she makes up for in personality and intelligence. When she is called a "taco head" by a student at her school, she decides to "kick that girl" by getting better grades and being a better soccer player than her tormentor. As a result of this determination, Sofia is offered a scholarship to the elite Saint Luke's school in Austin. Now she must convince her family and herself that she is up to the challenge. Canales includes vivid descriptions of life in a Mexican-American community. Her prose is engaging and easy to read, making this novel a good choice for reluctant readers. The momentum slows a bit after Sofia's arrival in Austin in contrast to the portion of the book set in McAllen. Still, the story is a good addition to most collections.-Melissa Christy Buron, Epps Island Elementary, Houston, TX--School Library Journal, February, 2006.

This tender first novel suffers somewhat from an awkward structure. Narrator Sofia, whose life story hews closely to the author's own Texas barrio-to-Harvard Law trajectory, begins by relating quotidian childhood experiences as vignettes. Three successive chapters go from first communion to dyeing Easter cascarones to trick-or-treating. A quarter of the way into the novel, she is suddenly 14 and has been offered a scholarship to a boarding school in Austin, Tex., 350 miles from her home in McAllen. The loosely connected anecdotes then shift to a conventional narrative thread about convincing her parents to let her attend. What will keep readers enthralled are the details of Sofia's home life-from the sobremesa, a "sacred time" after dinner in which the family reconnects through conversation, to the worm of the title, a critter soaked in mescal that acts as a "cure for homesickness" when eaten. Readers may well feel unprepared for both a death at novel's end and Sofia's out-of-the-blue neighborhood activism-but the characters are real and engaging, the vignettes funny and enlightening, and Sofia's lack of cynicism is refreshing. Ages 12-up.--Publisher's Weekly, November, 2005

In The Library

This would be a great selection for an older elementary/middle school girls book club. Lots of great discussion questions can be created from this excellent story.

It would also be a good book to spotlight in a display during Hispanic Heritage Month.