Gabi, a Girl in Pieces reminded me a lot of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian--they're told in a very conversational, somewhat rambly diary format. She has so many thoughts about these topics that trying to cover all of them here, or even quote bits and pieces of many of them, would mean you’d be reading this paragraph for the next 30 minutes. Gabi, a Girl in Pieces is a children’s book by Isabel Quintero, published in 2014. 21 quotes from Gabi, a Girl in Pieces: ‘Poetry helps heal wounds.Makes them tangible.At the poetry reading I reada poem.A prophecy I wrote down. ... Gabi’s weight, her desire to go away to college and her blossoming sexuality are all at odds with what she feels are expected from her as a young Mexican-American woman. —Brent Lambert. Directions: Click on the correct answer. Quintero uses a diary format to present Gabi’s life as a senior in high school struggling with family, body image, and sexual issues in a frank way. In addition to Gabi, A Girl in Pieces, she has also written a chapter book series for young readers, Ugly Cat and Pablo (Scholastic, Inc.), a non-fiction YA graphic biography, Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide (Getty Publications, 2018), which received the Boston Globe Horn Book Award, and most recently, a picture book, My Papi Has a Motorcycle (Kokila, 2019). Gabi also deals with some unusual circumstances. GABI, A GIRL IN PIECES. Gabi navigates being Latina, a young woman, overweight, and the daughter of a drug addict while her friends also deal with teen pregnancy, familial homophobia, and sexual assault. The male characters often demand submission, as in Moanin' the Blues , and in Stories Our Mother Told Us and Mi Tía La Bruja , an element of magical realism dances around witchcraft. Questions 1-5 of 25: Gabi has A LOT of thoughts about sex, rape, consent, and boys’ attitudes toward girls’ bodies. Gabi's letters to her father are particularly moving, and her narration is fresh, self-aware, and reflective. The diary format for Gabi, A Girl in Pieces was the absolute right choice for telling the story because it allowed both immediacy and distance from events (Gabi has to reflect on what happens after the fact, when she’s writing, rather than in the immediacy as it’s happening) and because it is exceedingly rare to see a “year in the life” diary of a character of color. Take our free Gabi, a Girl in Pieces quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge.

Gabi is a 17-year-old Mexican-American girl who deals with all of the typical challenges of a high school senior — like getting good grades, getting into her dream college, and having a boyfriend.