Amor and Summer Secrets

Title: Amor and Summer Secrets

Author: Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Category: Young adult

Worth It? Eh, don’t break your neck to buy this. 

The Nitty Gritty: Mariana Ruiz is half Polish, half Puerto Rican. But 15-year old Mariana sees herself as just an all around privileged American white girl—and definitely not someone of Latino descent. With her red hair and fair skin, it’s easy to do. That is, until, her parents send her and her brother to a small, mountainside town in Puerto Rico to visit her father’s estranged family. It’s there that Mariana comes to know who she really is and the value of blood relatives.

The Good: Mariana’s introduction her Puerto Rican culture and heritage. Her lovable, unpretentious PR family and boy crush Alex.

The Bad: Mariana allowing her BFFs to nickname her ‘spic’—it was hard to believe she didn’t realize her friends were insulting her. It was also hard to believe much of the conflict between Mariana and her friends back home.

The Ugly: This story failed to dig deep into the seriousness and impact of realizing one’s cultural identity. Its one dimensional characters and uni-layered content is better suited for light and fluffy book topics/themes. There are two follow-up books, which might be fare better since each focuses on more light-hearted subject matter.

Sample Chapter: Read chapter one of Amor and Summer Secrets.

Mariana’s Saga Continues With: Amigas and School Scandals and Adios to All The Drama