Sunday, March 7, 2010

Waking Up in the Land of Glitter: A review

                                                     
Waking Up in the Land of Glitter                                        
By Kathy Cano-Murillo                                             
Grand Central Publishing                                           
ISBN 978-0-446-50924-4

Waking Up in the Land of Glitter follows the integration of three women's lives, all of which are in some way or another affected by crafts.

Star is the manager of her parents' restaurant and art gallery, La Pachanga Eatery and Art Space.  Although the family restaurant serves the best Mexican cuisine in the valley, and Star is second-generation Mexican-American, she refuses to eat the food, speak Spanish or have anything else to do with the Mexican-American culture, for fear of being "lumped into those stereotypes".  Unfortunately, those aren't the worst of her traits.  Star has had a steady relationship with Theo, a charming and talented artist with a sweet nature and  "intuitive viewpoints on world issues" for many years.  Although their friendship is soul-mate material, it has remained plutonic because of Star's fear of messing up a comfortable relationship.  

We are first introduced to a hung-over Star as she fields questions from Chloe Chavez, the "Beemer"-driving, Juicy Couture-wearing journalist from KPDM.  Chloe is famous around town as the mid-day Crafting segment host.  When they meet, it's instant animosity; what neither woman knows is that each of them hides a huge and potentially destructive secret.  

Trying to keep the peace between her best friend Star and her idol Chloe, is Ofelia.  A homely, sweet gal that is helplessly obsessed with crafts and to whom no craft is complete until it is heavily incrusted with glitter.
These three women are thrown into an awkward partnership when La Pachanga is hired to provide the centerpieces for the largest Craft Show of the year.  

Waking Up in the Land of Glitter is full of pop-culture details and tongue-in-cheek character depictions.  It's a story that's just as much about growing up and learning to love, as it is about not judging a book by it's cover, such as the case of dismissing crafts as real artwork, just because it's dipped in glitter.  Although you can say that Ofelia's biggest challenge is to realize that not everything that glitters is gold, the same can be said for Star and Chloe.

Waking Up in the Land of Glitter is a fun and light read.  Crafters and fans of Crafty Chica will not be disappointed!






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