ALA Booklist (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

Growing up in an adobe house in the Rio Grande Valley in the 1930s, Cecilia is thrilled to attend high school and to get books from the library. Her mother, however, believes a decent girl belongs at home to help care for her younger brothers and sisters. Even as Cecilia chafes at Mama's disapproval and dreams of working in a city office, she knows that the family needs her and that Mama is strong and loving. Based on the life of the writers' mother, this fictionalized biography (which began with Cecilia's Year, 2004), gives a rich sense of a strong Latino family during the Depression, including lots of detail about farm chores through the seasons and traditional celebrations and foods. Black-and-white family photos and lots of Spanish terms are woven smoothly into the story. Though rooted in the small New Mexican farming community of the time, the conflict about leaving home is universal.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

This sequel to Cecilia's Year finds Cecilia Gonzales headed to high school in 1930s New Mexico. Despite Cecilia's anticipation and ambition, her first year is full of unexpected challenges and conflicts. Although Cecilia (the authors' mother) is an admirable heroine, this biographical novel suffers from too much sentimentality and far too many exclamation points. Spanish phrases are sprinkled liberally throughout.

Kirkus Reviews

In this sequel to Cecilia's Year (2004), the authors continue their fictionalized biography of their mother, growing up in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico in the 1930s. Chapters begin with Mexican proverbs and period photographs, as they relate Cecilia's move from a one-room schoolhouse to riding the bus to high school in town, waiting all year for a letter from her first love, housing and befriending Dust Bowlstricken Oklahomans and feeling the effects of a whooping-cough epidemic. Cecilia's main struggle, however, is with her mother, who insists on following older Mexican traditions. While the story gushes with sentimentality, it also conveys "snazzy" lingo, superstitions, savory meals and other interesting occurrences of the time, rural life and Latino culture. An author's note about the real Cecilia and her life after high school, as well as a list of Mexican proverbs and English translations, follows the text. Sure to find readers especially in libraries serving larger Latino populations. (Fiction. 10-13)

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-This sequel to Cecilia's Year (Cinco Puntos, 2004) tells of the teen's first year in the local high school in the Rio Grande Valley in the 1930s. Devastated when she learns that her crush is attending school in El Paso, Cecilia longs to live in a modern city. She continues to pine for Johnny throughout the novel, and readers will be relieved when the two are finally reunited in the last chapters when Cecilia accompanies her aunt on a brief visit to El Paso. An excellent student, she works hard at home to help her family, but receives no encouragement to continue her education from her old-fashioned mother. The book relies on the memories of the authors about their mother, Cecilia Gonzales Abraham, and the sentimental retelling of family stories. Captioned black-and-white photographs are included at the beginning of each chapter. A brief endnote brings readers up-to-date on the life of the real Cecilia.-Linda L. Plevak, Saint Mary's Hall, San Antonio, TX Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates

In this sequel to Cecilia's Year (Cinco Puntos Press, 2004/VOYA April 2005), Cecilia Gonzales realizes her dream of going to high school in a town near her small farm in New Mexico. As she struggles to fit in with the town kids whose hair is cut short in the popular 1930s bob and who use words like "snazzy," she also struggles against her mother's expectation that she become a good farm wife. Wearing the wrong shoes and pining for first love, Cecilia begins her universal journey into adolescence with her eyes on the future and a strong commitment to her morals. Despite many setbacks, including a family illness and the death of a sibling, Cecilia manages to achieve scholastically and earn the respect of her teachers and classmates. In the end, Cecilia is given a choice to forward her education in El Paso or to stay home and continue at her high school. The main problem with this book is that there is nothing very surprising in the story. The issues that Cecilia faces have been confronted in every coming-of-age novel. The dialogue tends to be sentimental and stilted, and many characters seem one-dimensional. Cecilia herself, based on the authors' mother, seems to be idealized in that she represents all virtue, rarely showing negative emotion or struggling with temptation. The glimpses into historic farm life are interesting, as is the glossary of Spanish proverbs used in the text. Libraries with large Latino or Chicano literature collections may be interested in this title.-Angela Semifero.