Dancing Home (review)

Margie’s hard-won all-American image falls apart when her cousin Lupe comes from Mexico and joins Margie’s fifth-grade class. Over time, though, Margie begins to see the challenges that Lupe faces every day at their California school and learns how different Lupe’s childhood was from her own, and her resentment of her cousin slowly shifts to sympathy. While the story of the friendship between the two girls is thoughtfully presented, the plot is contrived and programmatic, hitting heavily on the messages about embracing differences and accepting all people. Margie’s new friend, Camille, comes across as cloyingly wise beyond her years as she explains American culture to Margie (“Haven’t you figured it out yet? The United States is made up of all different kinds of people. And most of their ancestors came here from other places”). More effective is the device of a journal assignment that serves as a useful method to reveal Margie’s thought processes, as she often uses her journal to reflect on her shifting views of her heritage as well as her observations about Lupe’s adjustment to California. The third-person narration includes both Margie’s and Lupe’s points of view, adding depth to the narrative. Rubén Darío’s poem “To Margarita,” which is referenced throughout the story, is included in full in both English and Spanish at the end of the novel.