Gabi: A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero
Gabi: A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero
Quintero, Isabel. Gabi, a Girl in Pieces. Cinco Puntos Press, 2014.
In the novel Gabi: A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero, Gabi has just entered her senior year of high
school. With her best friends, Sebastian and Cindy, and her younger brother Beto, Gabi is learning to
navigate those teenage years. Having a chaotic home life doesn’t help Gabi understand the difficulties
of growing up. Her father is a cocaine addict, and is frequently absent from her life. Her mother is
constantly nagging at Gabi to”lose some weight” or to “be a good girl.” Gabi feels as though she can
never make her parents happy. How can Gabi for a ‘good Mexican girl’ when she can never make her
parents happy?
school. With her best friends, Sebastian and Cindy, and her younger brother Beto, Gabi is learning to
navigate those teenage years. Having a chaotic home life doesn’t help Gabi understand the difficulties
of growing up. Her father is a cocaine addict, and is frequently absent from her life. Her mother is
constantly nagging at Gabi to”lose some weight” or to “be a good girl.” Gabi feels as though she can
never make her parents happy. How can Gabi for a ‘good Mexican girl’ when she can never make her
parents happy?
Quickly things seems to start changing in Gabi’s life. First, her friend Sebastian comes out as gay and
is kicked out of his house, because ‘good Mexican boys don’t live that way’. Then her friend Cindy
becomes pregnant. What doesn’t come out until later in the story is that Cindy is raped at a party.
Then Gabi starts dating Eric; her first kiss, her first boyfriend, and her first heartbreak. Finally, when
Gabi finds her father dead in the garage from a drug overdose, Gabi feels confused and alone. She
turns to poetry and her teacher, Ms. Abernard to sort through her feelings. In her writing class, she
learns to write what she feels. She writes poems to her father, she writes poems to her mother, she
even writes poems to the cute boy in her writing class. Quickly, Martin, the cute boy in her writing
class, becomes her boyfriend, and they begin to experiment with their feelings and relationships. Gabi
will eventually survive her senior year of high school, although she is unable to attend her own
graduation due to getting in a fight with another girl in her class.
is kicked out of his house, because ‘good Mexican boys don’t live that way’. Then her friend Cindy
becomes pregnant. What doesn’t come out until later in the story is that Cindy is raped at a party.
Then Gabi starts dating Eric; her first kiss, her first boyfriend, and her first heartbreak. Finally, when
Gabi finds her father dead in the garage from a drug overdose, Gabi feels confused and alone. She
turns to poetry and her teacher, Ms. Abernard to sort through her feelings. In her writing class, she
learns to write what she feels. She writes poems to her father, she writes poems to her mother, she
even writes poems to the cute boy in her writing class. Quickly, Martin, the cute boy in her writing
class, becomes her boyfriend, and they begin to experiment with their feelings and relationships. Gabi
will eventually survive her senior year of high school, although she is unable to attend her own
graduation due to getting in a fight with another girl in her class.
The story ends with Gabi preparing to attend Berkley in the fall with her boyfriend, Martin.Gabi,
Sebastian, Cindy, Martin, her mom, her tia Bertha, Beto, and baby Ernie are all enjoying a celebratory
meal of chicken wings as the story closes with tones of possibility and acceptance ringing in the air.
Sebastian, Cindy, Martin, her mom, her tia Bertha, Beto, and baby Ernie are all enjoying a celebratory
meal of chicken wings as the story closes with tones of possibility and acceptance ringing in the air.
For fans of Gabi: A Girl In Pieces, I recommend reading I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez. There are many similarities to both stories, including the main character going against her hispanic heritage and choosing to do something different then what her family has planned for her to be.
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