Spanish / Uruguay
Pompas
(Bubbles)
Mirza, Gabriela
(text)
Ca_teter
(illus.)
Colonia del Sacramento: Amanuense, 2024. – 69 p.
ISBN 978-9974-883-39-0
Family | Coming of age | Runaway | Love
Reading age: 14+
White Ravens issue: 2024
Stiven, a member of a street gang, has to prove himself by robbing a store. But suddenly he finds himself face-to-face with Ágata – his former friend and first love from his childhood. Ágata, whom he has not seen in years, works here, of all places. Immediately things begin to race through his mind: his mother who is sitting in jail, his godfather who took responsibility for him, the boarding school where Ágata’s grandmother worked as a cook and from which he ran away. At this moment, Stiven is at a crossroads and has to make a choice. The bubble that has surrounded him is beginning to dissolve. It has protected him, given him a safe home, but at the same time it has held him captive, in a stalemate. By allowing her 17-year-old protagonist to tell his own story, Gabriela Mirza has created a direct, fast-paced narrative. With its precise emotional descriptions and vivid language, »Pompas« is a credible portrait of a young adult whose pain, loneliness and yearning for a sense of security are immediately palpable. [JW]