As her world swirls with life-changing events, Lola Reyes discovers her deceased father’s box of worry dolls while visiting her family in Guatemala. A note cautions her of a curse but, unlike her relatives, Lola isn’t superstitious. With a laugh, she defies the warning—awakening a sacred myth.
Plainville-based Author Cindy L. Rodriguez explores themes of cultural identity, changing family and friendship dynamics, and coping with big emotions, in her writing. Released on September 17, “Lola Reyes Is So Not Worried” dives into the Latinx American experience, the power of friendship, and the importance of validating young people’s concerns.
“[Lola] and her friends are all dealing with real worries,” said Rodriguez. As Lola feels the absence of her father and the shifting of friendships, one of her friends deals with the pressure to be an elite athlete, while another friend experiences food insecurity. “For all of them…they have to accept that your worries, whether small or large, are valid.”
With humor and excitement, Rodriguez explores the role that culture and relationships can play in our emotional well-being, no matter our age.
“On the surface, it’s a fun story, very fast-paced…but underneath is a very serious story about young people having big worries,” she said. “They need to be validated by their adults and they need to be talked about or else they just grow bigger and bigger like the dolls do in the story.”
This coming-of-age story also highlights how meaningful folklore and spirituality are in certain cultures to this day. As a scientific-minded individual, Lola doesn’t believe in folklore or anything paranormal. When she discovers these worry dolls in her father’s things, she doesn’t take them seriously and ignores the clear warning of a curse.
In every Latinx culture, there are people who fully believe in certain spiritual or paranormal ideas and there are others who view it less seriously but have accepted and respected these ideas as a part of their culture, shared Rodriguez.
“Lola has to come to that middle ground where it’s like, okay, she’s not going to become a full-on spiritualist…but she has to at least respect [those ideas] when grandma talks about it, or mommy talks about it,” said Rodriguez. “She eventually comes to believe that she has to at least respect the history, respect that these folklores and legends influence the culture…So, she becomes more connected to her Guatemalan community in that way, as opposed to just brushing it off.”
Rodriguez’s writing showcases Latinx American experiences and looks to accurately reflect those realities; how differences in cultures and generations can cause tension, challenge individuals, and lead to personal growth and stronger relationships. She emphasizes the need for open discussions to embrace different views and experiences than our own.
At times, guardians and older relatives grew up with different social pressures or expectations than what young people face now, explained Rodriguez.
“That can become a real moment of conflict within the house: trying to be who you are as an American Latinx versus honoring their expectations and their values of being from another country,” she said. “I think there’s always that push and pull—especially if you grow up in the U.S.—of wanting to keep your roots and…connections, but also, you do have this other experience.”
In 2023, about seven percent of children’s books received by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) were about Latinx communities and 11% had at least one Latinx creator, according to data collected by CCBC at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“When I was much younger, [in] many of the books I read almost all of the Latinx representation was inner city, people were poor and struggling—and that obviously still exists—but I also want to be able to sort of broaden people’s view of like, we’re not a monoculture,” said Rodriguez.
This year, Rodriguez’s first-ever picture book, “Three Pockets Full: A Story of Love, Family, and Tradition”, was selected to represent Connecticut’s literary heritage at the 2024 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., which saw about 150,000 attendees. The story centers around Beto, whose mother is remarrying and wishes for him to wear a Guayabera—a traditional and formal shirt often worn in Latin America—to the wedding. However, Beto protests against attending the wedding and wearing the shirt, which represents his heritage.
Rodriguez said she has been surprised and humbled by the positive public recognition that the children’s book has continued to receive since its publication in 2022.
“The goal with the book was twofold: to have Latinx audiences see that representation but also, beyond that, a story just about family…there are many children who live in households that have different dynamics,” said Rodriguez. “That kind of transcends the idea that a book that centers Latinx culture, can’t appeal to a broader audience.”
The book looks to inspire conversations about how children can balance different cultures they are exposed to, learn to express themselves, and think outside of themselves to accept positive changes.
“When kids at that age have these big emotions, sometimes they don’t really quite know what to do with it. So, that’s when [Beto] starts putting the shirt on the dog…and writing notes instead of actually talking,” said Rodriguez. “I’ve had teachers say, ‘What else could Beto have done in this moment? And they start to think, ‘Okay, if I’m ever in this moment where I’m feeling uncomfortable or I disagree with my mom or dad,’—they use it for problem-solving.”
At the beginning of the book, there are discussion questions to help children make connections to the story “in a way that basically says ‘You don’t have to be Latinx in order to understand or to connect to this particular story.’”
Rodriguez said it was also important to her that the story was equally accessible to both English and Spanish speakers. The book is available in both languages, while the English version includes a few common words in Spanish.
“Because it does center Latinx culture, it’s just realistic that even if you’re not fluent in Spanish you use some words here and there all the time,” shared Rodriguez. “So, it was important for me to have some Spanish in the book but I also wanted to put it in a context that students would be able to get it and not feel pulled out of the story.”
