Sueños intactos

Gr 7 Up—Paula Sanz is a creative, sentimental girl who experiments as her life transforms from childhood to adolescence. She feels confused by her conflicting emotions and her moods seem like an endless roller-coaster ride. Under the apprehensive eyes of her parents, Paula starts to go to parties, outings, and picnics. She falls in love with Juan, a very proper university student. Her first love throws her off center and opens the doors to an unknown happiness, but her life is changing too quickly. She realizes that there is a time for everything and that her decisions can't be guided solely by her feelings. She learns how to make choices that will affect her future. This novel explores the thoughts of an adolescent, raised in the embrace of a well-to-do family in Bogotá, Colombia, in the '50s. Even though Paula's account of her journey into adulthood is set in the mid 20th century, today's adolescents will relate to her feelings and can compare how girls acted in that time and in relation to the expectations of their parents, friends, and society.—Liliana Patricia Rocha, Teton County Library, Jackson, WY