In the Shade of the Nispero Tree

A girl's dawning understanding of the racial prejudice in her society--and its magnetic pull on her--is the subject of this thoughtful novel set in 1960s Puerto Rico. Mami, Teresa's mother, was part of la sociedad (high society) as a child and now wants Teresa to attend the Academia, the private school where the daughters of the wealthy study. But Teresa's father disdains high society (""la sociedad, as in high society?... Or la suciedad, as in dirt?"" says he) and prefers that his daughter stay at the less prestigious Cordero school. Fourth-grader Teresa is happy at Cordero, too, until her beloved teacher marries and moves away. After she lies to her new teacher to avoid getting into trouble, her best friend, Ana, tells on her, and Teresa, having absorbed her mother's prejudices, decides she's better than darker-skinned Ana and deserves to be with the lighter-skinned girls at the Academia. At her new school, Teresa feels pressure to disparage her darker-skinned friends in order to fit in. Only when a private club rejects Teresa's family because they aren't ""white"" enough do Teresa and Mami realize that their own actions toward Ana and her parents have been equally unjust. If Bernier-Grand (Poet and Politician of Puerto Rico: Don Luis Munoz Marin) occasionally drives home her point with a heavy hand, her convincingly drawn characterizations of Teresa and Ana and her realistic picture of the hierarchy in Teresa's society more than compensate. Her portrait of Teresa, caught between her parents' polarized views, is especially well realized. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)