Racism, class, and betrayal collide in this poignant debut novel about restoring the broken bonds of family and friendship.Every morning, seventeen-year-old Maria Anís Rosario takes the subway an hour from her boisterous and close-knit family in Queens to her private high school on the Upper East Side, where she struggles to fit in as one of the only Latina students—until Rocky welcomes her into … welcomes her into this new life. White, rebellious, and ignored by her wealthy parents, Rocky uses her money toward one goal: to get away with anything. To Maria, it’s a dazzling privilege.
As a bond develops between these unlikely friends, neither can see what they share most—jealousy and the desire for each other’s lives. But crackling under the surface of their seemingly supportive alliance, the girls begin to commit little betrayals as they strive to get closer to their ideals regardless of the consequences.
Told from the perspectives of Maria, Rocky, and their fathers, They Could Have Named Her Anything explores the heartfelt expectation of what it means to live up to the name you’ve been given and the more rewarding discovery of what really matters.
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I chose to read this book because I’m trying to read more #OwnVoices/foreign/minority authors. They Could Have Named Her Anything is author Stephanie Jimenez’s debut novel. Set in NYC, it is split between a poor, but comfortable family home in Queens, and a rich, but uncomfortable upper-class condo on the upper East Side. The primary story revolves around seventeen-year-old Maria—a Latinx student attending an elite girls’ school and her attempts to fit into the white, upper-crust school—and María, the same girl, finding her way within her own Ecuadorian/Puerto Rican family where her name carries centuries worth of religious overtones. The point of view shifts between María, her wealthy friend Rocky, María’s father Miguel, and Rocky’s father, Charlie, all characters who have foibles and quirks. The novel is empathetic and honest about adolescent female sexual urges, the “trying on” of identities during adolescence, and the need to fit into a community.
The author’s imagery was excellent. She did a fine job of not painting her main character with a halo. There are obviously good and bad aspects of our personalities. Both sides were explored in many of the characters. She presented a true to life novel.
My favorite character was Ricky, Maria’s brother. He steps up when it matters most, risking everything to do so. I was engaged by the unusual description of sex as a mundane activity, exhilarating but dreadful. Maria’s ease of putting her hair in a french braid in Chapter 5 seemed impressive (not that I’ve ever tried it, but I hear that french braids are difficult to do, especially on oneself). There’s a bit of Spanish in the book, which might be difficult for some readers.
I especially love the way the author handles the descriptions. For example, “a small sliver of skin came away from her mouth between her thumb and pointer finger,” is so much more inventive and appealing than just saying chapped lips. Great imagery. Maria’s thoughts and feelings about talking to Dr. Beth, especially in regard to how impossible it is to feel like there’s an adult on one’s side, was a rare and refreshing insight often left out of YA novels. And in Chapter 14 and 21, the title of the book is used in the story, which is something I love to encounter. I had never heard of slap-boxing before, so I ended up learning what that is because it’s mentioned in this novel.
Maria is asked to be more adult, putting her dreams on hold and prioritize her family first. She is often ungrateful of what she has, and that’s part of what makes her character arc so realistic. She was hard for me to like for most of the book, but that meant she had room to grow and change by the end of the story. I hate both of Maria’s love interests. (This is not a romance novel. But it’s a great example of just how wrong things can go with a love interest.) For example, Charlie is aware that he’s exhibiting pedophile tendencies and having an affair, but does it anyway. Maria contradicts how she feels about sex workers, as she both mocks and collects cards of prostitutes in Las Vegas, and then tries to essentially become one by offering to exchange sexual activity for tuition money. As she evolves and grows, she explores what consent really means and realizes why that was a bad idea.
A line I really enjoyed was, “saw the wisdom in the fragmented whole, how two things were sometimes better off when they were kept at a distance.” The theme, I believe, is the lesson that the grass always seems greener on the other side. There are other rags-to-riches Cinderella stories, but that’s not what this is. For one thing, Maria isn’t sickly sweet with birds and mice helping her get dressed, nor is she an orphan, and Charlie is certainly not a charming prince (though he is rich). It’s her soul that ends up richer at the end.
The author and I do not know each other, however, I did interview her for the Operation Awesome blog. That has no bearing or influence on my review. This book was a free Amazon First Reads. I don’t read many YA books that aren’t speculative fiction, but this one was really worth it. This diverse book is realistic fiction, controversial, meaningful, with a strong author’s voice.
found myself skipping forward because it was wordy.
When Maria Rosario begins commuting to a private high school on the upper east side of Manhattan, she is befriended by Rocky, a girl who doesn’t think twice about paying for Maria’s meals and even buys her a plane ticket. Maria is enamored with her new, wealthy friend, but she’s also worried Rocky will look down on because she lives in Queens. She doesn’t want to have to explain to Rocky why the hot water in the bathroom always turns cold or why they don’t have cable TV. Meanwhile, Rocky is equally jealous of Maria’s loving, functional family. The way Rocky sees it, Maria is loved and needed, while her own parents’ marital troubles prevent them from paying attention to their children. As the two girls become closer, their families get tangled together in messy and complicated ways. The structure of the novel is fascinating and works perfectly, the perspective shifting even within chapters from Maria to Rocky to each of their fathers. My favorite passage from the book is Maria’s thoughts about her home borough.
“Sometimes, when Maria walked down Queens Boulevard, she felt as if she were in front of an ocean. Twelve lanes wide and spanning far into the horizon, it provoked a similar sense of awe. In those rare moments when she had it to herself, when the sun had gone down and even the cars were sporadic, fleeting like flies, Maria was overcome with emotion. She felt so deeply her full humanity then. Some people had backyards, other people mountaintops, but Maria had Queens Boulevard to help her appreciate the ample beauty of existence.”
An insightful coming of age story centering on Maria, this vibrant debut offers so much more—a cautionary tale of the haves and have nots, an examination of wealth and whether that truly brings happiness, a dissection of loneliness and jealousy, and so much more. Stephanie Jimenez is an exciting new writer to watch.