American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood by Marie Arana

In American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood, Marisi builds a bridge between Peru and North America, between her artistic American mother and her Peruvian father, an engineer.  She grew up in Peru, surrounded by her father's family, learning of ghosts, spirits, and traditions.  She sees everything that happens around her, making acute observations about politics and society.  She is a child of Peru, educated by her American mother.  A visit to Montana to meet her mother's people solidifies her identity as a gringa, like her mother.  She is now two whole people living in one body.  A move to the United States a few years later challenges that self-image, since she is promptly labeled a "Spic," the only Latina in a New Jersey suburb.  Marisi-turned-Marie is a child of two cultures, rich in both Spanish and American heritage, but at the same time neither one nor the other.

Marie Arana, the editor for The Washington Post's Book World, tells her story in a way that made this reader forget she was reading nonfiction.  The family history she uncovers in the reserach for the book challenges who she thought she was, but at the same time confirms who she is: a bridge.

Submitted by a Berryville Library patron as part of the library's Adult Summer Reading Program.