The Smell of Old Lady Perfume

by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez

Overview

Claudia Guadalupe Martinez’s debut novel for young adults is a bittersweet story about death, family, and the resilient emotional strength of the human heart. Chela Gonzalez, the book’s narrator, is a nerd and a soccer player who can barely contain her excitement about starting the sixth grade. But nothing is as she imagined—her best friend turns on her to join the popular girls and they all act like Chela doesn’t exist. She buries herself in schoolwork and in the warm comfort of her family. To Chela, her family is like a solar system, with her father the sun and her mother, brothers, and sister like planets rotating all around him. It’s a small world, but it’s the only one she fits in.

But that universe is threatened when her strong father has a stroke. Chela’s grandmother moves in to help the family. The smell of her old lady perfume invades the house. That smell is worse than Sundays. Sundays were sad, but they went just as sure as they came. Death was a whole other thing, and Chela doesn’t understand that’s what everyone is waiting for. In her grief and worry, Chela begins to discover herself and find her own strength.

Claudia Guadalupe Martinez was born in El Paso, Texas. She learned that letters form words from reading the subtitles of old Westerns for her father. She went on to graduate from college and moved to Chicago to become one of the city’s youngest nonprofit executives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933693880
Publisher:	Cinco Puntos Press
Publication date:	05/24/2011
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	10 - 15 Years

About the Author

Claudia Guadalupe Martinez was born in El Paso, Texas. She learned that letters form words from reading the subtitles of old westerns for her father. He encouraged her to write a book. He died when Claudia was eleven. She went on to graduate from college and moved to Chicago to become one of the city's youngest non-profit executives.

Editorial Reviews

Cella is excited about beginning sixth grade. She and her friend Nora will be in an advanced all English-speaking class for the first time. Most of the classes in Cella's El Paso school are bilingual because many families (Cella's included) speak only Spanish in their homes. But Cella's joy soon dissipates. Her beloved father suffers a stroke on the first day of school. Her grandmother arrives to help out, smelling of old lady perfume. When Cella returns to classes after the first week, she discovers that Nora is now a part of the popular girls' clique and will not speak to her. Cella becomes a loner at school. At home, she helps her father build a house for the family, strengthening their already close relationship. Soon after the house is completed, her father has another stroke. This time, his stroke is fatal. Grandmother and her smell return. This sensitively-written novel provides unique insights into a bicultural family. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.

Children's Literature - Phyllis Kennemer

Gr 4-6

Chela Gonzalez and her friend Nora are looking forward to sixth grade in their El Paso school. They have finally been placed in the A-class, the "smart class," which is for students who only speak English. Then Chela's father has a stroke on the first day of school, her grandmother comes to help out, and "the air became thick with the smell of old lady perfume, of dying flowers and alcohol.... It was the smell of bad things." Nora becomes a member of the popular group of girls who've decided to make her an outcast. Chela is asked to enroll in the Gifted and Talented group that meets after school, which helps to ease her loneliness. Her father suffers another stroke, fatal this time, and again the smell of old-lady perfume fills the little house. The book ends with the family trying to regroup after their loss. Chela is rewarded with the highest honor at the school's end-of-year awards ceremony-the All School Girl award. Through her pride, her sadness is also evident since her father was the one who always pushed her to do her best. This is a sweet coming-of-age story, telling of the cruelties of children toward one another and dealing with the loss of a parent. The story should appeal to readers dealing with their own tween years.-Diana Pierce, Leander High School, TX

School Library Journal

An autobiographical examination of sixth grade, death and life on the border. The year starts with great promise, and Chela confides her dream to her beloved Apa: winning the All-School Girl Trophy. But Apa has a stroke on the first day of school, and when he recovers, Chela finds that during her absence popular Camila has stolen her best friend. Episodic chapters relate moments of the year, each paced like a short story but dependent upon a linear reading, slowly moving the novel to the unsurprising end. The first-person past-tense narrative creates a sense of distance that flattens characters and renders Apa's struggles with his health objectively poignant rather than emotionally resonant. The balance of life on the border of Mexico and Texas is lightly sketched but sure-handed; occasional Spanish phrases and the sense of family and community come through. Readers too young for Viola Canales's Tequila Worm (2005), which also explores life between cultures, and happy to take it slow may find this ideal. But sadly, like Apa's post-stroke diet, the novel lacks spice. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

"Martinez’[s] highly episodic first novel is a quiet story that is filled with such coming-of-age staples as mean girls, popularity contests, first romances, sibling rivalries, and more. However, readers will also find the book’s loving portrayal of Chela’s family, its nicely realized setting, and its artful exploration of the problems of assimilation to be both engaging and heartfelt." —Booklist

"This is a sweet coming-of-age story, telling of the cruelties of children toward one another and dealing with the loss of a parent. The story should appeal to readers dealing with their own tween years." —School Library Journal

"The balance of life on the border of Mexico and Texas is lightly sketched but sure-handed; occasional Spanish phrases and the sense of family and community come through. "—Kirkus Reviews

"Setting her story in El Paso, Claudia Guadalupe Martinez gives us the gift of a real world, filled with authentic kids and family dynamics…Martinez’s prose, always animated and descriptive, is frequently quite beautiful. She is an author to watch." —Southwest Books of the Year 2008

"The Smell of Old Lady Perfume is a touching story that will teach lessons on loss, family, loneliness, and the importance of being oneself…The novel’s easy language reads like genuine narration from a sixth grader and complements the story’s complex themes" —ForeWord Magazine

"This sensitively-written novel provides unique insights into a bicultural family." —Children's Literature

"While Spanish words are interspersed with English, there are not so many that the book is difficult to read for a non-Spanish speaking person but just enough to actualize the Hispanic culture in Chela's home life and the circumstances of a bilingual student in an English-speaking school environment." —ALAN's Picks

"The original title gives a glimpse of the poetic lines peppered throughout this poignant debut." —Latinidad's Best of 2008

"I discovered I could relate to Chela's isolation at school, as well as her worries about her family…The book flows easily; this is a story that seems to be told by a person still experiencing these things…The Smell of Old Lady Perfume is a story about growing up, about seeing things in a different light." —San Antonio Express-News

"Martínez has crafted a beautiful and heartfelt journey of a girl who 'wasn't supposed to see' so much, but who 'saw all kinds of things.' Young readers, especially those navigating difficult issues such as poverty, illness, isolation, depression and death, will find a friend in Chela Gonzalez, a typical sixth-grader who learns to find strength from within in order to transcend the many troubles outside her control." —El Paso Times

"It's the first book by author Claudia Martinez, and one can hope that there are more to come… The Smell of Old Lady Perfume is the story of a young girl trying to find her way as life around her changes and she is powerless to control the changes. Love triumphs all and Chela learns that the love of family is something that never changes." —Chicago Young Adult Fiction Examiner

"In her poignant first novel, Martinez encompasses the pains of school, the loss of friends, and most importantly the library collection masterfully discusses the power of smell and how it can evoke strong emotions and memories. Tweens will easily relate to Chela’s struggles and triumphs, particularly immigrant tweens. Highly Recommended." —REFORMA Newsletter

"[Smell of Old Lady Perfume] is a melodic and melancholy tale of a girl’s sixth-grade year." —El Paso Scene

From the Publisher