With summer finally here we thought a fun summer beach read would be a good idea for our summer discussion and The Quince Project, a sophomore novel by Jessica Parra, seemed like the perfect fit.
Publisher’s Summary: Castillo Torres, Student Body Association event chair and serial planner, could use a fairy godmother. After a disastrous mishap at her sister’s quinceañera, all of Cas’s plans are crumbling. So when a local lifestyle-guru-slash-party-planner opens up applications for the internship of her dreams, Cas sees it as the perfect opportunity to learn every trick in the book so that things never go wrong again.
The only catch is that she needs more party planning experience before she can apply. When she books a quinceañera for a teen Disneyland vlogger, Cas thinks her plan is taking off…until she finds that real life is more complicated than a fairy tale. Cas soon discovers that the party is just a publicity stunt, and she catches feelings for the chambelán. It’s clear that her agenda is about to go way off-script.
But maybe Happily Ever Afters aren’t just for the movies. Can Cas go from planner to participant in her own life? Or will this would-be princess turn into a pumpkin at the end of the ball?
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Warning! Spoilers Ahead!
Let’s start off with some fun questions. Since this book is based in the OC (Orange County) the home of Disneyland, there are numerous Disney references all throughout the story. If you’re a Disney “head,” did it work for you, or if you’re not, did some of the references get lost with you?
K. Imani: I’m a total Disney head (fun fact…I actually went to the park one day while reading the novel and got a “I’m Celebrating” pin) so I enjoyed it and was able to catch all the references. I will say that at some point in the story I did feel all the Disney and Star Wars references were a bit overwhelming, but I really did love the way Cas used Star Wars as inspiration for Paulina’s “unquince”.
Crystal: The Disney aspect was really fun for me. That’s super cool that you got to visit Disney while reading. Most of my elementary school years were spent in Orange County, so it’s a place of nostalgia for me. The last time I went to Disney was quite a while ago so the Star Wars references were actually sort of unexpected. I appreciated them though since I am also a Star Wars fan. I enjoy seeing characters or folks in real life being inspired by the things they love. It made me want to go for a visit.
Audrey: I’ve never been to Disneyland and have no particular desire to go. The Disney and Star Wars references that I understood were fun, cute, or thematically relevant, though I will fully admit I know I missed out on references to the more recent movies. It was fine—context provided enough information that I didn’t get totally lost. Both Disney and Star Wars have significant presences in the book, so if you actively dislike those companies/franchises, this might not be the book for you.
Jessica: I’ve only been to Disneyland once and I’m not a huge Disney person – the only Disney movie I watched as a kid was Mulan – so I did miss a few references, but overall, I thought it was a fun touch! Now that we’re talking about it, I do really want to go to an amusement park now…
Cas’s sister Po has a ton of malapropsisms with her sayings. Which one was your favorite?K. Imani: I giggled so much at Po’s malapropisms, but my absolute favorite that I think I’d love to include in my life and share with my students is “Believing is Seeing.” Her saying became Cas’s mantra but I think it’s a good saying to use to help bolster self-esteem and to become what we imagine ourselves to be. It’s very freeing in a way.
Crystal: I too appreciated the reworking of sayings. One that on the surface looks negative is, “If it’s broke, don’t fix it.” Sometimes we are so caught up in fixing that we don’t see the opportunities of other things around us.
Audrey: Hurricane Po was a delight, and it’s hard to pick just one! I think what I enjoyed most was the times Po got her various quotes right—Cas was quick to pick up on the timing of correct quotes versus when Po didn’t quote perfectly.
Jessica: I’m going to have to choose “believing is seeing” as well. It’s manifesting! I love it. So much fun. Honestly, there were so many great lines.
We must talk about the romance! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the main love interest is so forward. How did the romance come across to you?
K. Imani: I actually found the way the romance was written to be very refreshing. Usually the “will they/won’t they” creates good tension between the characters and builds the romance, but this time, with Javi being so intentional about his interest, that it took some “pressure”, if you will, off Cas. She wasn’t focusing on him at all because she was so focused on being the perfect party planner. He was a nice boost to her ego when she really needed it and I found their relationship truly realistic because of that.
Crystal: I too enjoyed that the main focus wasn’t on if they were going to get together. He is that open book for her and I loved that for them. Their story is sweet. His openness was definitely a contrast to her secret keeping so the tension was more a matter of worrying about when everything would all fall to pieces and whether or not they had built something strong enough to withstand the impact.
Audrey: Agreed, Javi’s honesty was refreshingly straightforward, and I liked that he wasn’t pushy about it. He made his interest in Cas known, and Cas was interested right back, so it didn’t take long for them to start dating. Same thing with Po and Paulina! And as Crystal pointed out, the romantic tension didn’t need to be “will they/won’t they” for this book’s structure—the higher stakes would be to have Cas’s lies revealed while they were already dating. It made complete sense to have them, and Po and Paulina, start their relationships before everything exploded.
Jessica: I thought it was a really interesting twist on the usual YA conventions, and I enjoyed it! It made space for a different aspect of Cas’s journey. I think writing what comes after “will they/won’t they” can often be incredibly challenging, so I was duly impressed by the departure from convention.
The major theme of this book is grief and the different ways we handle trauma. Cas handled her mother’s death differently from her sister and from her father, with each of them not talking to each other. How did you feel about the various depictions of grief?
Crystal: Having grief within both families was something that helped Javi and Cas bond, but it also showed that families and individuals most certainly have different ways of coping with or living with grief. Both families had times when they didn’t talk about the loved one. Javi and his mom would just veg with dramas or telenovelas which is one of my preferred methods, but they also had times when they would talk. Cas’s dad was doing the avoidance 24/7 and Cas was too in her own way.
Audrey: Grief is messy, complicated, and nonlinear, and the nuanced way the author handled various people’s coping mechanisms in regards to their losses was something I appreciated. The anger Cas had at times toward her sister, and most notably her father, was especially impactful. I totally understood Cas’s warring desires not to upset her father but also being desperate for him to be a father and support his grieving daughters better than he had been.
Jessica: I agree – I really appreciated the different approaches that the author took to depict how people handle grief. And the contrast between Cas and her father, versus Javi and his mother, as you pointed out Crystal, really highlighted that. Just depicting that was so powerful.
K. Imani: I agree with all of you. In fact, it made the story more real to me as there is no “right” way of expressing grief. I found it heartbreaking how Cas’s father expressed his grief and how he didn’t realize he was hurting his children more by it. And when Cas finally told him, it woke him up and I loved that it started both of them towards healing because Cas snapping at her father also made her realize that her actions were a part of her grief as well.
The “Parental Past Tense”, the term Cas created in her discussion with Javi, really hit me, but I do think it was an interesting way of expressing grief. What do you think of Cas creating the term “Parental Past Tense”?
Crystal: That phrase definitely sums up that awkward and painful moment of having to basically reveal that your parent is no longer alive. It’s a situation that often happens out of the blue and there’s always a moment when you can decide to omit using the past tense or just breeze past it. There are layers there because it’s about how the words impact the listeners as well as the person sharing their loss. Again there was contrast with Javi as he has gotten more comfortable with this past tense over time and Cas is just beginning the journey.
Audrey: The “Parental Past Tense” was a hard-hitting turn of phrase. It captures so much in just three words, and I really appreciated it from a language-learning standpoint. It’s something new, something that requires practice, and something that will take time to master.
Jessica: It really was a hard-hitting turn of phrase. Cas coming up with “Parental Past Tense” really says it all about how Cas and Javi approach grief, and Cas’s own struggles.
K. Imani: The phrase hit my heart as well. It made me think of my students who have lost a parent and how they deal with their grief. I feel like the phrase really encompasses what it means to lose a parent and how you move forward.
Lastly, what books are on your summer reading list?
K. Imani: I’m catching up on a lot of reading I was unable to do during the school year for reasons, but I am really looking forward to reading Children of Anguish and Anarchy, the conclusion of the Children of Blood and Bone series. I’ve been looking forward to this book for so long.
Crystal: I have London on My Mind by Clara Alves on hold and am waiting for Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer. I’m also excited to get to The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. As a teacher, summer is prime reading time so I hope to get to those and many more. And though it doesn’t come out until the first week in August, I am really anxious to read Hayley Dennings’ debut This Ravenous Fate.
Audrey: I have a road trip this summer, so I’m hoping to cross off a lot of books on my list. I’m especially looking forward to Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen. There are also several horror anthologies out this summer that have caught my attention, including We Mostly Come Out At Night edited by Rob Costello, The White Guy Dies First edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker, and The House Where Death Lives edited by Alex Brown, and I’m hoping to get my hands on some (or all) of them.
Jessica: I have Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao and Bunt! by Ngozi Ukazu at the very top of a huge stack of books on my desk and they are staring me in the face right now! I’m also interested in reading Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen and The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. And thank you for the reminder about the next Children of Blood and Bone book! I need to go put that on hold. So much to read!!