Introverted Bear

I really liked this book, but I'd only give it a 3.5 for a few reasons. Let's start with the good.

I love that Virginia never gives up. She stubbornly keeps creating a path for her own self. She gets stuck in captive for a while, not sure what to break free or stay with what's familiar to her. Her life mirrors many children's lives in the sense that she deals with the pressures of physical beauty, finding her own place, and coming to terms with her heritage and her future. I think she's rather lucky that she's combined her identity so well, and hopefully, other readers will be lucky like her or get inspiration from her. As a character, Virginia is extremely spunky, and her antics are fun to read about.

The book covers many topics, such as abuse, molestation, poverty, discrimination, growing up, formation of an identity, first loves, and friendship. Some things are covered well, especially the formation of Virginia's identity, and other things are just touched on, like first loves and molestation. I think the wide range of topics makes the book very enjoyable. It's not just one theme, but an intertwining of topics that keeps the book going.

I've heard that Latin America gets much of its entertainment from the United States, just like Virginia watches MacGayver, but something about Virginia's actions and thoughts just seem too American and not Latin American. It seriously made me wonder if Ecuador actually adopted American values like this book portrays or if the author chose to insert American values to make Virginia more relatable to an American audience. I think more exploration of the indigenas' themes and culture may have added to the book, but at the same time, Virginia loses her indigena identity since she is removed from her home at an early age. The mixing of cultures makes me wonder what's Ecuadorian, what's American, and what's indigena. However, the mixing all of the cultures is probably what created Ecuador's culture in the first place.