Julia Alvarez’s Once Upon a Quinceañera and Adrianna Lopez’s Fifteen Candles - La Quinceañera, American style: Two new books examine the shifting fortunes of a Latino tradition

“A heavy velvet curtain parts and a 15-year-old Latina, festooned in a voluminous pink taffeta dress, is revealed. She sits on a throne and is holding a doll dressed much like herself. Her hair is piled high, topped by a glittering tiara. She smiles broadly as Julio Iglesias croons “De Nina a Mujer” over the sound system, while another 28 teens, 14 damas girls and 14 chambeláns boys, artfully arrange at her side. Soon thereafter, the girls father comes up, takes his daughters feet in his hands and replaces her flat slippers with high-heeled shoes. 50 Cents “In Da Club” starts thumping through the room: “Its your birthday/We gon party like its yo birthday … ”

No, youre not witnessing an over-the-top bat mitzvah, or a Sweet 16 run amok. This is a typical quinceañera.”

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