For students, specialists, and lay readers, Stavans (Latin American and Latino culture, Amherst College) brings together nine essays that examine the quinceañera celebration's social importance in the Latino community, especially in the US. Writers, educators, a seamstress (who discusses her experiences in the community), and scholars of Chicana/o studies, sociology, art history, anthropology, and English address the roles of religion, gender, family status, class, race, and performance of the ritual, as well as the context of American debutantes' coming of age, within the Chicano community, in Guadalajara, Mexico, and women's experiences of the ritual. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)