Padma Catell's Comments on "Bless Me, Ultima"

All I can say is “Bless me for finishing this book.”

Basically I hated many things about it. Perhaps it is because I am not of Hispanic or Latin ancestry but I could not get myself interested in Antonio his relatives, including Ultima, or his friends. I would have liked to have found out more about Ultima; she seemed an interesting character, and less about Horse, Bones, and how far boys of that age can spit or piss. These parts seemed both irrelevant and somewhat nauseating to me.

I also have an objection to the use of vernacular when it is bad English. I would think for the “Big Read” which is supposed to promote reading in young adults, the choice would be one of more literary merit. My husband, Scott, who is an author, tells me it is acceptable to use sentences like, “The entire school was eager to go on Christmas vacation.” But I think this just reinforces bad grammar, which does not need any reinforcement. And what is it about the use of adverbs that seems to be going out of style? Is there something I’ve missed about this?

And another thing, the endless passages about Catholicism did not add anything as far as I could see. I actually found myself groaning aloud in my car while listening to them. I realize the idea was a “coming of age” story of a boy coming to terms (although as far as I could see he never did) with the ideas of god and death, and the meaning of life, but he went on so long that all I wanted was for him to stop with the religious stuff. I did not find what was going on in his head very interesting.

And what did his dreams have to do with anything? And what was it supposed to mean that Florence dies? This really bothered me since Florence was the one character I cared about and he was killed off. I’d have much preferred to see Horse, Bones, or one of the other obnoxious boys die.

OK, I’ve gone on long enough. You all can discern how I feel about this book. But finally, I’m saddened that this was the choice for the Big Read. I’m not sure what kind of example it is setting for the young people who will read it. And it leaves me wondering who makes the choice for the Big Read, and what criteria are used for making the choice.   Big sigh, padma