I did not finish - I have tried reading this book on multiple occasions and just could not get into it.

Quijana is a girl in pieces. One-half Guatemalan, one-half American: When Quijana's Guatemalan cousins move to town, her dad seems ashamed that she doesn't know more about her family's heritage. One-half crush, one-half buddy: When Quijana meets Zuri and Jayden, she knows she's found true friends. But she can't help the growing feelings she has for Jayden. One-half kid, one-half grown-up: Quijana spends her nights Skyping with her ailing grandma and trying to figure out what's going on with her increasingly hard-to-reach brother. In the course of this immersive and beautifully written novel, Quijana must figure out which parts of herself are most important, and which pieces come together to make her whole. This lyrical debut from Rebecca Balcárcel is a heartfelt poetic portrayal of a girl growing up, fitting in, and learning what it means to belong.

Wow! I really loved this coming of age novel . Beautifully written and perfect to read along to the children in your life- which I did- my 9 year old loved it. I love how Quijana had such a sweet, loving relationship with her grandmother and how hip and cool her grandma was! This book also highlights the importance of friendships especially in your formative years.

The Other Half of Happy is a sweet middle grade novel about a young lady in between two worlds and who feels pulled in both directions. Quijana's father is Guatemalan and her mother is white. She has grown up in the U.S. and doesn't feel she has a connection to her Guatemalan roots. This novel follows her as she navigates finding her way. Even though I'm a grown up, I could still put myself in Quijana's shoes as I remembered what it was like to be a tween just trying to find my place. I thought this was a sweet book! TW - Cancer

Quijana feels divided. She doesn't speak Spanish like her dad and her cousins, and so in some situations she's too Latina and in others not enough. She doesn't feel like she fits in. She finds a few new close friends at middle school and starts to understand who she is. As she's figuring herself out, she's worrying about her brother, who's developing differently that other little kids, and her grandmother who has cancer. This is a book about life and the challenges it throws at you and how growing up isn't easy, but can be rewarding when you figure out who you are.

There is so much to love about THE OTHER HALF OF HAPPY by the incredibly talented Rebecca Balcárcel. It's lyrical, it's deep, it's highly relevant, and most of all, it's REAL. The characters all pop to life and become part of the readers' extended friend or family group. We feel invested in these people and we FEEL for them.

Reading THE OTHER HALF OF HAPPY took me through all the feels from flashing back to my own middle school days, to teaching and parenting kids that age, to losing a loved one. Main character Quijana is an extraordinary young lady, and extraordinarily smart, and I longed for her to realize it. Somehow, I think one day she will. I know I'll keep thinking about her and the rest of the group (and can't stop, really).

There were many quotables in the book, but I share only a few that illustrate all the different ways Balcárcel is an outstanding writer:


"The English r isn't fancy, but it's like a go-to pair of white socks, matching every word I need. The Spanish rrr is orange with pink dots, blinged-out with rhinestones and ribbons."

"Her shine doesn't take away from yours."

"Saturday stretches out in all directions, my unexplored island."

"Everything's okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."


It's funny, but sometimes a book comes to you in a backdoor way. I first met the author at WORDfest in March of this year, when she conducted an interview with me. She calmed my nerves and was delightful to talk to, and at the Lone Star table, she mentioned her book and showed me the cover -- and of course, I went nuts over it. Sometimes, you just know a book is going to be next level, and so I made a point to find Rebecca again at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in April. I got my signed copy and photo, of course, and the beautiful book taunted me -- which led to emails, which led to a book blog tour, which led to my taking this book across an ocean so that I could get it read, which led to my falling in love with people who exist only between pages of a book, and I miss them so much.

I highly recommend THE OTHER SIDE OF HAPPY. It speaks important messages that we all need to hear and absorb and ponder as part of our shared experience in this world. There truly is something for every reader and readers of every age in this book.

When you are half white and half of any other recognizable people, you will have a hard time fitting in in America. You are walking that line of two world. You want to be "normal", you want to be accepted by the other "normal" children.

Quijana is half American and half Guatemalan. Her parents did not speak Spanish to her, because they wanted her to fit in. And that was ok, for a while, until it wasn't, and she realized she could not speak to any of her Guatemalan relatives, and she felt left out, so much, that she decided she did not want to go to Guatemala at all.

This would be just a typical middle-school book about friendship, except it isn't. It is a story of being between two worlds. Of friends that also don't quite fit in, but fit in with themselves.

Lovely book. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

In our culture, there's this push for imigrants to assimilate. This can leave them and their children in a cultural limbo, not really fitting in with the general public but clearly isolated from their own family. Add in general struggles to fit in when you're in your middle school years, family with health problems, the worries that can come along with having a neuro-atypical sibling and you have a fair amount to explore in this book. Perhaps, one might argue, too much, especially when you add in first crushes and increasingly complex lies. This is not a comfortable read and doesn't resolve in neat and tidy ways. But it has a ring of truth that will resonate with middle graders.

I can't wait to go get a physical copy of this book for my daughter. This is a lovely book about what it is like to live as a young person in a society where half of your ancestry is looked down on and the other half ignored because of the "obvious" half. It is heart-felt and realistically told from the perspective of a child. Really well written and so vital to the current social climate.
Well done! Highly recommend.

#TheOtherHalfOfHappy #NetGalley #ChronicleBooks

When I first saw the cover of The Other Side of Happy (let’s be real, the cover is so cute!) and read the blurb I was hooked and knew that this was a story I would enjoy. What I wasn’t prepared for was getting completely swept up in Quijana’s story and having it pull at my heartstrings many times, nor the delight I felt in recognizing so many of the quirks and aspects of growing up bi-culturally on the page. Balcárcel has created a book that beautifully depicts what it’s like to grow up bi-culturally, especially during middle school, a time you are already grappling with new social complexities and trying to figure out who you are. It is a book that younger and older audiences alike will both enjoy, but above all, is a present to the kids who grew up or are growing up between worlds who at one point have felt that they are not enough.



Summary: Twelve-year-old, bi-cultural Quijana likes her Anglo life just fine. Nevermind that her Spanish is shaky and she can’t talk with her abuela. When her Latino relatives show up and prompt her parents to plan a trip to Guatemala, Quijana plans an escape. She’s sure that being half makes her happy.

Chronicle brings us poet Rebecca Balcárcel's middle grade novel about a biracial girl who's navigating between the Anglo and Guatemalan sides of her family, a burgeoning crush and a cool new friend, and trying to figure out what's going on with her little brother, who is becoming remote and hard to reach, all while trying to determine just who she is.



The Other Half of Happy starts off as Quijana is preparing to start the seventh grade in Texas, where she lives with her mother who is Anglo, her father, an immigrant from Guatemala, and her younger brother Memito. There is a lot going on from the very beginning: Her burgeoning friendship and romantic feelings for a fellow classmate, her Guatemalan cousins moving to Texas, and her father’s announcement of an upcoming family trip to Guatemala which Quijana is dreading as she doesn’t speak Spanish and feels like she wouldn’t fit in.

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The arrival of her Guatemalan cousins and her father’s renewed interest in Guatemala throws Quijana’s life into flux. Not only is she already attempting to navigate the new social waters in middle school (and perhaps a new crush), now she also trying to figure out who she is and where she fits in, particularly under her father’s constant enthusiasm for her to learn Spanish and embrace her Guatemalan heritage; an image of the Latina daughter that she feels like she cannot live up to. Balcárcel has a keen eye for the deep nostalgia that marks the immigrant experience and how this is passed on and observed by their children. She depicts this through so many precise details and moments sprinkled into Quijana’s story that will feel familiar to anyone who grew up bi-culturally. Moments like having to translate your parent’s heavily accented English, not wanting to be embarrassed by “standing out” in the classroom, having a hard to pronounce name, or wishing you could bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school like the other kids. These and countless other moments in the story speak to Balcárcel’s sharp eye and compassionate writing. She negotiates the many identities that Quijana juggles with a deft hand that will have the reader right next to Qui on her emotional rollercoaster ride throughout the book.

In addition to Quijana’s plotting to avoid her family’s vacation to Guatemala and her conflicts about not feeling ‘Latina enough’ there are many subplots and narrative threads that Balcárcel weaves throughout the story. All of these threads work in tandem to bring the emotional complexities of growing up to vividly onto the page. I won’t spoil them here (some of them made me tear up while I was reading on the train!) but did want to point out one specific thread which absolutely filled my heart and is worth highlighting for how well it is written throughout the book. Quijana’s relationship with her little brother Memito is absolutely heart-warming to read. Memito processes stimuli and communicates differently from other children his age. His behavior changes throughout the book much the consternation of his family who is unable to pinpoint what is “wrong” with him. Through all this Quijana loves, takes care of, and supports her brother. Balcárcel herself is a mother to a child with autism which I believe lends to this being one of the best and most compassionate depictions of autism I have ever read in fiction and for this reason alone I am so happy to have picked up this book.

I admit I am a little biased when it comes to loving this book. There are so many little details that I personally connected with and was delighted to find on the page. Qui and I both have guitar-playing, Don Quijote-loving dads. We both went to school in Texas and I loved the Texanism sprinkled in the dialogue and I loved the accurate and loving depiction of autism in the book. But beyond these personal attachments, it is a truly beautiful and affirming book that nonetheless does not shy away from fully depicting the heartbreaking and sometimes messy realities of a mixed family and identity. It is a book that will speak to older readers and younger readers alike, but especially to those who, like Qui, sometimes need to be reminded that they are enough, just the way they are.

I absolutely loved this book! I've never gotten to see myself on the page like this before! Quijana is a realistic twelve-year-old because I remember feeling exactly the way she did about certain situations when I was her age. This book did a very good job of portraying how confusing your identity can be when you are mixed.

This book is about 12 year old Quijana who lives with her Guatemalan dad and her American mom and her little brother who struggles with sounds and sensations. She is also struggling a bit-her dad wants to share pieces of his culture that are meaningful to him, and Quijana really isn't interested. She wants to be a regular American kid and it really bugs her that people expect her to speak better Spanish (she looks Hispanic, like her dad) and enjoy her big Spanish speaking family. I think a lot of kids will identify with Quijana.

The Other Half of Happy is an excellent exploration of friendship and identity. Balcarcel expertly portrays how overwhelmed adolescents can often feel with myriad things happening around them. She also perfectly covers how the typical middle grade search for identity is complicated among bicultural students. I highly recommend this book for all libraries and classrooms. It can be used as a starting point for many meaningful discussions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for en eARC of this book.

This book is packed with many important topics, including family, culture, loss and neurodiversity. Although it’s very well, and each subplot could be a book by itself, it personally felt a bit overwhelming with all the issues coming at me. I would definitely still recommend it.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. It features a half Guatemalan girl who is going to my beloved Lake Atitlan. But alas, it was longer than I thought it should be and there was too much going on.
The main plot involved Quijana's attempt to get out of going to Guatemala for Christmas. She knows very little Spanish and knows she will be overwhelmed and embarrassed. Subplots include: her grandmother's battle with cancer, the struggle to figure out what might be wrong with her younger brother, her first crush, a major argument with her dad. It was all a bit much - with so many threads I found it hard to care about the main thread I guess.
I am not sure where in Texas they were flying from to get to Guatemala but 7 hours? It takes 2 1/2 hours from Miami...

A wonderfully written middle-grade novel that explores cultural identity and self-belonging.

Twelve-year-old, Quijana Carillo, struggles to find a balance between her Guatemalan and American identity while navigating through middle school, boys, and family issues. Although her father is from Guatemala and is proud of his cultural heritage, Quijana identifies more as American and thus often alienates herself from the Guatemalan side of the family due to her limited Spanish vocabulary and disinterest in learning the culture.

This book brought up a lot of topics- cultural identity, racism, cancer, and autism to name a few. There was a lot going on and at times it seemed as if these topics were just brushed on and had very little depth to them. Another issue I had was the MC, Quijana. While I understand that she's not perfect, she comes across as selfish and stubborn at times. She doesn't acknowledge nor consider other people's perspectives, is rude, and makes impulsive decisions that hurt others. Despite this, however, Quijana manages to shine in some scenes though I really liked her dad because of his compassion and dedication to his family. In fact, all the characters are pretty great- especially Grandma Miller. The relationships are well developed and Balcarcel masterfully weaves in Guatemalan song and poetry throughout the novel.

Overall, not a bad novel- though I'm not sure it would necessarily appeal to the middle school demographic I can see it be discussed in a classroom or a book club for its notable themes.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books publishers for providing a free ARC

For the past several years, I am always surprised by the topics that middle grade writers bravely discuss. This book is no exception. At the heart of this book, the main character Quijana is struggling with her Spanish identity. However, the author brilliantly weaves in several other problems that would make for excellent discussion in a book club or classroom. I would recommend this book for students fifth grade and above.

Wow, that was really good! A middle school girl who is half Guatemalan and half Caucasian, but doesn't feel like she belongs in either world because she doesn't speak Spanish, but she doesn't look white. This is a story of how she figures out who she is and where she belongs, in the midst of some normal middle school angst, but also some hard life lessons that come her way. The story is told from her point of view so you really get to see her struggle and appreciate her growth. Yes, she makes some pretty poor decisions, but part of that is normal tween/teen behavior when it's hard for a child to see anything from a point of view that is not theirs. The good news is that she has an amazing group of people behind her, including her family and her best friends, and they love her for who she is, flaws and all, and she is able to come to that realization. I love her grandmother and her words of wisdom, the quotes from Don Quixote (yes, that book is now moving up in my queue), her father's kindness, her mother's practical sense, the way she loves her baby brother, and the crew who are her Guatemalan relatives. I think this book should be in all middle school libraries, but I think maybe they should think about some alternative covers. While I think the cover is pretty attractive for me, I don't know if middle schoolers would be drawn to it.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for sending me an advanced e-copy of “The Other Half of Happy” in exchange for my review. There are many things I really liked about this book, and a few things that I did not.

To begin with, I loved almost all the characters in this story. I especially loved the father and how optimistic he is and tries to keep his family on track and bonds with is children. I also loved the mother’s character for being the more grounded one and looking for solutions to fix the problems. Jayden in Zuri are also wonderful friends to Quijana. Most of the characters are very dynamic and lovable and you instantly root for them. The author progresses with the storyline so smoothly that even though there is drama, it is not over dramatic. There is no unnecessary jealousy between the friendships, hardly any hostility between characters. Everybody genuinely loves one another, even if they have family issues. The author has also remarkably portrayed that no matter how many hurdles life throws as you, life keeps going, and you need to look forward to each day.

Grandmother Miller is one of my favorite characters, and I love some of the quotes she imparts, such as: “Figure out what makes you amazing” and “Embrace the adventure”. One of my favorite lines is when she tells Quijana:

“You’ll flourish in your life, that’s certain. But you’ll grieve, too. And not just for me. All your life, you’ll be letting go of things. The secret is to relish the moments as they happen, but let endings happen, too.”

The author has also thrown in wonderful quotations from Cervantes “Don Quixote”, which makes me want to pick up the book from my bookshelf and read it.

My main problem was Quijana’s character at certain parts. She appeared to be way too selfish at certain pivotal scenes and thinking only about herself. Even when her Grandmother passes away, all Quijana thinks of if she was about to fill out the bus form. She acts way to impulsive and stubborn and does not listen to others at times. Also, I felt like the author tried to highlight way too many issues in one book itself. One chapter talks about autism, another about cancer, then about a gay character coming out, then one about racism etc. Moreover, I felt that the author just touched the surface of these issues without really dwelling into it. While I agree that these are relevant topics, I think it was just too much in one book. As they say, sometimes less is more.

Don’t get me wrong. I still think this is a charming book and there are some parts which are truly beautiful. If the author has just made Quijana’s character less self-centered and annoying, I would have really enjoyed reading it. Overall, “The Other Half of Happy” is still a fun, breezy read, and I would give it a rating of 3.75 out of 5 stars.

The Other Half of Happy is an enjoyable, enduring read that lingers after it is finished. Rebecca Balcarcel writes beautiful prose and paints a vivid and believable portrait with words.

This is a review of an eARC sent to me by NetGalley.

Quijana is working to navigate life while being in middle school. Starting fresh this year, she doesn't feel like she fits in with anyone because of her heritage: Half-Guatemalan and half-American. When cousins move into town, Quijana sees that she's the only one that doesn't speak any Spanish. Her parents decide to take her to Guatamala for winter break, but Quijana does NOT want any part of that. Her father longs for her to accept his side of the family and has instilled a love of music into her. Will Quijana accept her whole heritage? Will anyone else?

There's a LOT going on in this story, so let's take a look at the list: new school, new friendships, a crush on someone who is struggling with their own identity, a grandmother who develops cancer, and a three-year old brother who is dealing with some sort of sensory-processing issues (It's never clearly defined as the family is trying to figure it all out...) Quijana has many good qualities, but she definitely exercises some poor judgement in a couple of different situations-- it would be great to discuss this with students in middle grades to see whose side they would take. It asks good questions about romance, being yourself, cultural identity, and these questions feel realistic for the situation. Ultimately, life goes on, and things are not wrapped up in a perfect bow, which I really appreciate from a real-life perspective. It was a fresh take on cultural identity, and the Quixote references play more for the adults reading. I thought this was a solid middle-grade debut for the author and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next. This book should go into a collection looking to make sure there is representation for all cultures. in the middle grades.