¡Ándale, Prieta!: A Love Letter to My Family

by Yasmín Ramírez Narrated by Kim Ramirez

Overview

When I tell people who don't speak Spanish what “prieta” means-“dark” or “the dark one”-their eyes pop open and a small gasp escapes. ... How do I tell them that now, even after the cruelty of children, “Prieta” means love? That each time “Prieta” fell from my grandmother's lips, I learned to love my dark skin. My Ita called me Prieta. When she died, she took the name with her.
Yasmín Ramírez spent her twenties feeling lost-working an intensely taxing retail job and turning to bars for comfort. When her beloved grandmother dies, she comes home to El Paso, Texas, where people know how to spell her accented name. As she pulls her life together, she finds comfort in celebrating her Ita, a resilient matriarch who was far from the stereotypical domestic abuelita. Yasmín remembers Ita wistfully singing old Mexican rancheras, her mastectomy scar, the hours they spent watching boxing matches at a dive bar, and of course, Ita's lesson on how to ball a fist for a good punch. Interviewing her mom and older
sister, Yasmín learns even more about why her Ita was so tough-the abusive men, the lost pregnancies, and the toil of almost literally back-breaking jobs. In time, the writer finds her grandmother calling her forth to live with the same bravery and tenacity: “¡Ándale, Prieta!”

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"A hard-hitting and gorgeous debut. Yasmín Ramírez welcomes readers into the hot pink, humming, fighting, blossoming world of her El Paso childhood—and like her Grandma Ita, who looms large in these pages—Ramírez throws her punches without flinching while rendering her people and places with clear-eyed tenderness. An essential and stunning memoir." — Sonja Livingston, author of Ghostbread

"Yasmín Ramírez's debut memoir delicately shows us what tough lessons, and even tougher people, have to teach us about love. That how we choose to love our family, our home and culture, almost always reveals how much, or little, we actually love ourselves. Funny and smart, ¡Ándale, Prieta! is a joy to read." — Matt Mendez, author of Barely Missing Everything and Twitching Heart

"¡Ándale, Prieta! is an invitation into a home blessed with the aroma of caldio simmering on the stove. At the heart of this book is Ita, the indomitable matriarch whose scars are physical and mental and unspoken. From the point of view of her granddaughter, this unflinching memoir is a celebration of women working through the pain and earning the love in their lives. The authentic spirit of the writing is fleshed out in the landscape of El Paso, a US-Mexico border town, where cultures rest on a delicate edge, side by side, always touching. One essential lesson we learn from this extraordinary debut is the need to leave one's Home to embrace the sacred journey back to Family." — Richard Yañez, author of El Paso del Norte: Stories on the Border

"A promising debut, gripping in its honesty." — Kirkus Reviews

Américas Award Honorable Mention 2023 - Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs
International Latino Book Award Silver 2023 - Empowering Latino Futures
Recommended YA Nonfiction List 2023 - In the Margins Book Awards
Southwest Book Awards Winner 2023 - Border Regional Library Association

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178336342
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	06/20/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

At the time it seemed normal. Later I learned that most grandmas don’t teach their granddaughters to fight, especially when their granddaughters are only in first grade.

But there she was, holding her clenched fists in a fighter’s stance in front of me. “Si alguien te pega ¿qué vas a hacer?”

So—what would I do if someone punched me? “Punch them back?”

“No empieces nada, pero no te dejes, ¿eh?”

“Okay, Ita. I won’t start anything, but I won’t let myself get pushed around either.”

“Y más vale que ganes, ¿eh? Porque si no, cuando llegues a la casa te voy a poner otra chinga.”

I stared at Ita, letting her words sink in. I really don’t think she would have given me a chinga if I lost a fight, but just in case, I was definitely not going to lose.

Ita sat on the edge of the worn brown paisley couch, so I was her height. We’d moved the green marble Formica coffee table out of the way for more room. The gold cross she always wore lay shiny on her chest. It rose and fell with her breath. She wasn’t saying anything. I stared at her face, waiting. She stared back, sin sonrisa, her arched brows squished to the center. I squished my eyebrows and lips to match hers.

She took up a boxer’s stance again, but this time she opened her palms toward me. I stood ready, left foot in front, right foot back like she’d told me…

“No. Mira, Prieta.”

I glanced at my feet and then back at Ita as she stood up. She placed her feet the same as mine but bent her knees a little. “Porque así—” Mine were locked. She reached over and shoved me. I lost my balance.

“Tienes que plantarte bien para que no te tumben.”

I put my feet back where they’d been, this time with my knees bent like hers.

She shoved me again. I stayed put.

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