BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manzano, Sonia. 2012. THE REVOLUTION OF EVELYN SERRANO. New York. Scholastic Press. ISBN 978-0-545-32505-9.
PLOT SUMMARY
The 14-year-old girl who decided to be called Evelyn instead of her full Puerto Rican name, lives in Spanish Harlem with her conservative parents who own a bodega. She chooses not to work in the family business; instead, takes a job at the Five and Dime. Her grandmother, who she’s never met, visits and decides to stay a while. During this time, protests in Spanish Harlem begin with the Young Lords trying to help the community with daycare and food programs, her grandmother who is an activist becomes involved and Evelyn follows in her footsteps. Her parents are not pleased with her involvement, but eventually find a way to support her. The protests become dangerous and violent, making Evelyn’s choices of breaking out of her culture more complicated. This political revolution opens her eyes to her own internal struggle and helps ger get back to her Hispanic roots at the same time standing up for Puerto Rican injustices alongside her family.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Evelyn, the teen protagonist, is a very relatable character with the young adult audience. Her tense relationship with her mother and stepfather is a common theme with young adults. She is exposed to activism by her grandmother, which complicates this relationship even more. The Latino culture is evident throughout as the description of their foods, home decor, Spanish words and customs are representative of Puerto Rican customs. The Young Lords, a political activist group, is described as natural and wild and causes Evelyn to appreciate her natural hair, which she once didn’t. She began wearing jeans, which was the attire for the young activists and didn’t sit well with her stepfather. El barrio is represented as a working-class area with immigrants selling cultural foods such as piraguas (frozen ices) and bacalaitos fritos (fried codfish). The smell, as Evelyn described it, was of lack of garbage pickup upkeep.
The young lords brought attention to El Barrio by sweeping up the sidewalks and eventually gathering it in the middle of the roads and lighting it on fire which was their first significant event and sets the tone for their fight for rights of the community. The young lords come to an agreement after multiple encounters of refusal but come to a violent end as Evelyn witnesses and experiences the violence of the fight for rights with a gash to her eyebrow as she was caught in the cross hairs. Her grandmother, who chose to stay at the rally instead of accompanying Evelyn to the hospital, is a feeling all too familiar to her mother who grew up being put aside so she could live her activist lifestyle. Evelyn’s grandfather, a patrol man in Puerto Rico, followed orders to shoot nationalists who were protesting in the Ponce Massacre of 1937 the attack on the nationalists.
The history of the Ponce Massacre is told throughout the story through recollections of her grandmother’s memories and photographs. This significant event was mentioned throughout the story as it was the reason for Evelyn’s grandmother to become involved in fighting for innocent people. The photographs in the newspaper articles of this historical event were part of her grandmother’s memories which are taken in secret as her mother wanted to protect her from the family’s history. The style of the story is an easy one to read and the conversations she has with her friends and family are interesting as their culture is present throughout. The story ends in a hopeful ending as Evelyn’s own revolution is more of a personal evolution and learns to love herself (reverting to her natural name), she learns to accept her grandmother's lifestyle, her parents stand by her decisions and are hopeful for the future of El Barrio. The author’s note explains how she found her way to advocate for social change and the creation of this fictional book. She also offers articles listed in the “for further reading” section with links available for free to read.
REVIEWS /EXCERPT(S)
Booklist starred, 10/15/12
Horn Book Magazine, 04/01/13
Kirkus Reviews starred, 10/01/12
Pura Belpre Author Honor, 2013
School Library Journal, 11/01/12
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), 10/01/12
Booklist starred (October 15, 2012 (Vol. 109, No. 4): “Starting with the title, this wry, moving debut novel does a great job of blending the personal and the political without denigrating either.”
Horn Book Magazine starred (Spring 2013): “Based on true events, the 1969-set story develops organically through well-realized fictional characters dealing with complex family dynamics.”
Kirkus Reviews starred (October 1, 2012): “The author effectively captures this shifting perception in the dialogue and Evelyn’s first-person narration.”
CONNECTIONS
This historical fiction book is an easy read and very relatable to the young adult audience as relationship strains with family and oneself are typical at this stage in a young person’s life.
This book offers a great opportunity for conversation in protest movements. Offering students guidance on how to research more on the Ponce Massacre of 1937 would give students a better understanding of this significant historical event from the book.
Displaying this book during the Hispanic Heritage Month during September and October will be a great way to showcase this Hispanic author. Making the link for her website available can also help readers get to know the author more. https://soniamanzano.com/
Peck, Richard. A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO: A NOVEL IN STORIES. ISBN 978-1-41552-637-8
Perkins, Lynne Rae. CRISS CROSS. ISBN 978-0-329-64218-1
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