The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker

In high-level reading books, we can often sift through the text to find purposeful author choices, and the power/resistance that characters have.  Sometimes, characters mis-understand the level of power they have, and other times they fight the power of others. Hidden in XYZ-level books such as The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker are important lessons that can be found by closely reading with a specific lens. When I did this, I noticed small yet important details that contributed greatly to my conclusions about The Stolen Party.

            The first lens I used was word choice. One section of The Stolen Party that I closely examined was a part where Rosaura, a poor maid’s daughter, is preparing for a party at her rich friend Liliana’s house. Although her mother tries to convince her otherwise the night before, Rosaura believes that Liliana is friends with her, and has invited her to the party as a guest. The morning of the party, Rosaura is very confident because she looks so nice. The words and phrases that the author chose include “Terribly Pretty,” “Lovely,” “Firm step,” and “Admired herself.” Rosaura’s confidence affects how she acts, and she goes into the party that way. This confidence only grows throughout the party as Rosaura wins all of the games, helps out with the cake, and becomes the magician’s helper.

            I re-read the sections with a different lens- power. Some of what I noticed the first time connected to power. For example, in the beginning when Rosaura argues with her mother, she knows that her mom has more power, yet she is resisting that advantage. The next scene showed Rosaura allowing herself power by thinking that she looks pretty. We can tell that Luciana has power over Rosaura- not only because she is the host of the party, but also because Rosaura’s mother works for Luciana’s family. The last scene of The Stolen Party is when Señora Ines offers Rosaura money instead of a gift like every other guest. This is when Rosaura realizes that she was not a guest at the party. We know that Rosaura has the power to take the money, but she is also giving up her power by taking the money.

            In real life, power is resisted all of the time. Whenever someone feels like they are less powerful than someone else, they feel intimidated and upset, especially when that power is used against them. Sometimes this is a small resistance, such as talking back to your parents, but others are resistances such as rebellion. We’ve seen both in our books, and both in our world too.