Isabel Quintero, a girl like you

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Kiyoshi Koiwai in Entertainment

Angie Quintanilla

Chronicle reporter

Author Isabel Quintero is a writer, poet, and English professor who tore down barriers with her novel “Gabi, a Girl In Pieces.” Quintero won several awards for her debut novel: William C. Morris Award, the Tomas Rivera Award, and is in the Best-of Young Adult Book List of 2014.

Quintero visited the Will and Ariel Durant Library on Thursday March 20, 2014.

Quintero said, “Gabi, a Girl In Pieces” took about seven years to write and to publish because she originally intended for it to be a poetry style book. An agent urged her to change it to a novel so she had to edit and change the vernacular of that of a teenage girl. Quintero said she did not struggle with this change because she has “many young nieces and nephews and a friend’s daughter helped with edit[s].”

Certain publishers rejected Quintero, but she emphasised more on the surrealness of her success. She said it is “almost like an out of body experience. I’m in LA for writing this book”.

She also mentions how the main character, Gabi, is based on her life as a teenager and her dreams to be someone else. The book addresses some of feminism ideas Quintero faced as an adolescent. For example, in the novel, Gabi is conflicted when she has feelings for a boy but already has a boyfriend. Gabi is afraid of expressing her sexuality to both boys but is worried of becoming a “slut.” Quintero addresses other issues throughout the novel like teen pregnancy and identity problems.

What sets Quintero’s novel apart is it focuses on Mexican-American culture. It has many Spanglish (Spanish-English) terms, cultural references and accurately depicts the life of a Mexican teenager. The fact that Gabi is a poet and an all-around intelligent girl while a minority is different yet inspiring.

“It is difficult to connect when you do not see yourself in the book,” Quintero said. “People of color have been writing for a very long time. Not just two years ago.”

“I teach so I do not write 8 hours a day… I just carry a Moleskin around and write something” Quintero said in response to some questions regarding her writing routine. Quintero ended her presentation with an excerpt from the novel.