Chili Queen: Mi historia

by Marian L. Martinello

Overview

“It happened on the plaza that never slept—my favorite place in the whole of the city,” writes Lupe Pérez, to begin her memoir.

A mix of historical fact, vintage photos and maps, recipes, music, folklore, and south Texan culture, Lupe’s story offers an eyewitness account of life on Military Plaza in San Antonio during the 1880s.

Facing the impending failure of her family’s chili stand, Lupe is certain she can improve profits. But her older sister and hostess, Josefa, resists Lupe’s arguments—until Tom O’Malley, an itinerant vaudeville actor, arrives. By default, Lupe becomes Chili Queen, but each new venture presents new challenges for the struggling chili stand.

Peter Meyer comes to town from the Hill Country to pursue his dream of becoming a shopkeeper. Despite their cultural differences, he and Lupe are drawn to one another by more than romantic feelings. They share a common entrepreneurial dream, and Peter helps Lupe grow in her business savvy.

Just as business improves, word spreads of a new city hall on the plaza and the subsequent eviction of all chili stands. Where will they go? What will they do? The choice is Lupe’s to make. And her response is bold.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780875656137
Publisher:	TCU Press
Publication date:	02/19/2015
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

MARIAN MARTINELLO has enjoyed a forty-year career as teacher and university professor in interdisciplinary learning and teaching. She holds the title of professor emeritus at the University of Texas at San Antonio and serves as president of the UTSA Retired Faculty Association. She has previously published The Search for Emma’s Story (1987), The Search for Pedro’s Story (2006), and The Search for a Chili Queen (2009) with TCU Press. She currently resides in San Antonio, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2015
Gr 8 Up—This first-person historical fiction novel presents a slice of life in San Antonio, TX, in the late 1800s—a city bustling with life even in the evenings. Cowboys, businessmen, vaudeville actors, military men, and others from diverse ethnic backgrounds make their way to the plaza chili stands for dinner, companionship, and entertainment. Seventeen-year-old Mexican American Lupe Pérez and her family have their own booth with its simmering chili and stewing beans, eaten with warm corn tortillas and washed down with coffee. However, life is not easy for Lupe and her family, and the teen worries about their dwindling clientele. She observes other successful stands, taking the initiative to learn new practices from the Chili Queens who serve food and amuse guests with stories and songs. Next, she convinces her family to allow these practices at their own booth, inspiring Mamá to create new, secret chili recipes and Papá to share tales from his vaquero past that Lupe can retell. This narrative is supported with meticulous research evidenced in primary source photos, recipes, and music scores of the era. Spanish dialogue is used to lend authenticity to the characters and the time period, although English meanings are immediately provided. VERDICT Romance, scandal, brawls, unexpected crisis, and Lupe's constant ability to solve problems make the book difficult to put down.—Ruth Quiroa, National Louis University, IL

School Library Journal

2015-01-10
Selling chili on the plaza with her mother and sister at night, Lupe wonders why her family is barely getting by: The quality of their food rivals that of any competitor on the square, so why do other stands bring in crowds of customers while her family serves only a steady trickle? Lupe has a natural entrepreneurial spirit. She learns to notice what people want and to offer it better than the competition. She takes risks and tries new ideas—some work, some flop. When she observes the other chili queens entertaining customers with stories, she does the same and excels. Twirling her exquisite rebozo for dramatic effect, she keeps customers captivated, returning each night for more stories and plates of food. Threaded through the growth of the business and the yarns that Lupe spins is the story of coming of age as a young Mexican-American woman in San Antonio in the 1880s. Lupe and her older sister, Josefa, both dip their toes into the waters of romance and find that love is fraught with consequences. Recipes for traditional Mexican dishes are interspersed throughout the book, as are superfluous replicas of historical documents and photographs—these serve to make the book look like an uncomfortable hybrid of fiction and nonfiction and detract from the story. Martinello's storytelling is compelling and will engage particularly voracious readers of historical fiction, but due to the essentially bland subject matter and the unfortunate design, it lacks broad appeal. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 14-17)

Kirkus Reviews