Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I’ve been focusing on family for the last week up in Idaho, folks–we went up last Saturday, my nephew spoke in church on Sunday (and then started home MTC the next day), and we had time with my parents until another nephew’s baptism on Thursday evening before the drive home. (We got into our neighborhood before 10:30, so that was a win.) The time with my parents was bittersweet–my dad has vascular dementia, and that really, really sucks–but it was time, and that matters.

Next week we’re focusing our time on my hubby’s side of the family, but they’re still my family, and I’m deeply grateful for that. (It’s such a blessing to have married into a family that is now also my own–I know not everyone has that.) In the meantime, however, I finished reading Lupe Wong Won’t Dance a bit ago, and since I’m already thinking about what different sides of our families bring to us, it’s the perfect night to review it. Chinacan/Mexinese Lupe is all set to pitch in the major leagues someday, but she needs straight As in order to meet her baseball idol, and the square dancing unit in PE throws her for a major loop. Add the intrinsic awfulness of middle school, a regurgitated breakfast burrito, an serious best friend fight, coconut-scented malicious shaving cream, and some false front teeth, and you get a story of causes, friendships, and growth.

And square dancing. (Which was part of music class in my elementary school, by the by.)

Remember the book I compared to the most amazing stuffed peppers ever? Lupe Wong is also by Donna Barba Higuera, and since it’s not dystopian sci-fi, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot has a bit of a different feel to its journey–I’m honestly not sure I can even explain what I mean by that–but Lupe Wong also feels alive. Whether you read or listen–and the narrator on the audiobook is lovely–expect both laughter and tears; this is a book well worth your time.