The Tequila Worm (by Viola Canales)

But Sofia has dreams beyond the barrio, and a pivotal event in her childhood gives her the drive to achieve them. When she wins a scholarship to an Episcopal boarding school hundreds of miles away her family is reluctant to let her go, but determined to keep her tied firmly to her roots when she does.

First-time novelist Viola Canales has accomplished what few before her have managed: to create a realistic, but not didactic, portrait of life within a particular culture, in this case Mexican-American in Texas, that will resonate with others from that culture and has such appeal that non-Mexican readers will wish it was their culture too. The details of foods, traditions, rituals, clothing are warm, rich and loving, and so integrated into the daily life and mindset of all the characters that it creates a yearning in the reader to experience it firsthand.

When Sofia steps out of her community into one very alien to her -- a mostly white Protestant boarding school -- she neither loses touch with her home and culture nor feels an outsider in her new setting. While she faces some prejudice in her new school, she also finds support, close friends, and a superb education while remaining true to herself. This is a lovely, moving, warmhearted story that lingers long after the last page.