Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel

Description

It's summer before eighth grade, and Erica "Chia" Montenegro is feeling so many things that she needs a mood ring to keep track of her emotions. She's happy when she hangs out with her best friends, the Robins. She's jealous that her genius little sister skipped two grades. And she's passionate about the crushes on her Boyfriend Wish list. And when Erica's mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, she feels worried and doesn't know what she can do to help. When her family visits a cuarto de milagros, a miracle room in a famous church, Erica decides to make a promesa to God in exchange for her mom's health. As her mom gets sicker, Erica quickly learns that juggling family, friends, school, and fulfilling a promesa is stressful, but with a little bit of hope and a lot of love, she just might be able to figure it out.

Diana Lopez is the author of the novels Choke and Confetti Girl, which won the 2012 William Allen White Award. She is the editor of the journal Huizache and the managing director of CentroVictoria, an organization devoted to promoting Mexican American literature. She lives in South Texas and teaches at the University of Houston-Victoria. You can visit her website at ww.dianalopezbooks.com.

"Lopez (Choke) skillfully balances emotional moments with humorous ones, offering an honest portrait of a family under strain. Chia's clever, cheeky voice and a strong cast contribute to an inspiring story about developing "a special kind of bravery." - Publishers Weekly Praise for Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel: "A funny and heartfelt story...Balancing the heavy subject matter with generous doses of humor and an authentic young teen voice, Lopez crafts a story that blends family and middle school drama successfully." - Kirkus Reviews "The many characters in Chia's life are individually and lovingly drawn...Readers will feel like Chia's family and friends could do anything as long as they stick together-and they may be right." - Booklist "Chia's voice shines...A fast-moving, absorbing read about how one person's illness can affect the whole family in many different ways." - School Library Journal "An honest, sometimes uncomfortable, but always hopeful look at how cancer affects family....Erika's story is full of the healing power of love." - Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of Summer of the Mariposas and Pura Belpre Award winner Under the Mesquite Tree "[This is a] story of struggle, of surviving, and what is oftentimes a difficult healing, but a healing nevertheless. My own promesa after reading Lopez's wonderful novel: to run alongside my wife and hundreds of thousands of others on that day of the Race for the Cure from here henceforth." - Rene Saldana Jr., author of A Good Long Way Praise for Confetti Girl: "This debut novel puts at its center a likable girl facing realistic problems on her own terms." - Booklist An appealing coming-of-age novel set in a traditional Mexican-American town. - Kirkus