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kristenremenar's review
3.0
Yumi Ruiz-Hirsch is a clarinet-playing, punk-rock-loving surfer girl trying to keep her school's orchestra alive, and listening to her grandfather Saul's life story. Nice middle-school read.
yungokssss's review against another edition
4.0
How many time have reviews started out with, "this is a really good book" or "really nice writing". Yeah, simple words, but they really get the meaning. Any young-adult would be lucky to read this.
Yumi's grandfather Saul has cancer, and is ready to leave this world. But not until he tells his story. Yumi takes on the responsibility of listening to Saul's story every week. But she still has her own problems. Her dad can't publish a song, her mom has a serious boyfriend, she and her mom are moving which means leaving behind the only friend Yumi's ever known. But the worst thing is that her school just shut down her orchestra. Clarinet-playing Yumi takes things into her own hands, determined to make orchestra matter again.
I loved this book because it was entertaining, heart-felt, and showed the path to How-to-Solve-Your-Problems.
Yumi's grandfather Saul has cancer, and is ready to leave this world. But not until he tells his story. Yumi takes on the responsibility of listening to Saul's story every week. But she still has her own problems. Her dad can't publish a song, her mom has a serious boyfriend, she and her mom are moving which means leaving behind the only friend Yumi's ever known. But the worst thing is that her school just shut down her orchestra. Clarinet-playing Yumi takes things into her own hands, determined to make orchestra matter again.
I loved this book because it was entertaining, heart-felt, and showed the path to How-to-Solve-Your-Problems.
crystal_reading's review against another edition
2.0
Yum I is a girl going through many changes and challenges. She just wants to stop & keep everything the same. That is not an option though so she takes her grandfather's advice and gets on with the business of living. The relationship she has with her grandfather is one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much. He shares a lot of what he believes like, "I'd rather live with uncertainty than believe easy answers, only to have something to believe in." (p 151) Yumi is Japanese, Jewish and Cuban (with a little Guatemalan in there too) so race and culture come up, but the book is mostly about Yumi growing up and dealing with change. It has sad moments along with humorous ones and though romance is touched on, I appreciated that this book was not focused on that.
sandraagee's review against another edition
3.0
Christina Garcia seems to have created the ultimate in non-didactic multicultural literature in the central character of her novel I Wanna Be Your Shoebox. Yumi Ruiz-Hirsch is part Cuban, part Japanese, and part Jewish. But she is also part musician, part surfer, and part historian. Yumi's eighth grade year seems to be more than a little filled up. Within the span of a few months, she has found out that her school will be cutting her beloved orchestra from its budget, her mother is remarrying, and her grandfather is dying. As Yumi listens to her grandfather Saul tell his life story, she also begins to learn to fight for the things she wants as she works with her classmates, father, and soon-to-be step-father to organize a punk rock orchestra fundraiser. She also quickly realizes that life doesn't always turn out the way you planned - sometimes you just have to make do the best you can and join in the dance.
Episodes from Yumi's year are beautifully described by the author, who was a National Book Award finalist in 1992 for her adult novel Dreaming in Cuban. Garcia's experience as an adult author shine though clearly in her first mid-grade novel, giving Yumi's narration a literary tone that will appeal to most, but could potentially turn away some less-experienced, less-patient readers. Overall, however, this novel's characters are beautifully drawn and Yumi's adventures show a delicious combination of youthful vigor and wise understanding. Saul's own narration of his life story, presented at the end of each chapter, is given a very distinct voice which makes his character stand out and adds a dynamic all its own as the reader learns along with Yumi about how his experiences have shaped the man he became.
Episodes from Yumi's year are beautifully described by the author, who was a National Book Award finalist in 1992 for her adult novel Dreaming in Cuban. Garcia's experience as an adult author shine though clearly in her first mid-grade novel, giving Yumi's narration a literary tone that will appeal to most, but could potentially turn away some less-experienced, less-patient readers. Overall, however, this novel's characters are beautifully drawn and Yumi's adventures show a delicious combination of youthful vigor and wise understanding. Saul's own narration of his life story, presented at the end of each chapter, is given a very distinct voice which makes his character stand out and adds a dynamic all its own as the reader learns along with Yumi about how his experiences have shaped the man he became.
sharonfalduto's review against another edition
YA book about a mixed ethnicity girl--Cuban, Japanese, Jewish--who has to come to terms with the death of her beloved grandfather. She asks him to tell her his life story. I had a difficult time relating to this character; she and I have almost nothing in common, which I suppose is the point of reading, but it felt to me as if the author were trying too hard to make the character "cool" with her surfing, her dad being in band, and her plan to save the school's orchestra by putting on a punk rock orchestra concert.
beththebookdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Yumi's family members are various kinds of unconventional, and she's not exactly ordinary herself: a preteen classical clarinetist and surfer who is learning about LIFE in big ways.
Nothing extraordinary here except the extraordinary ways "real people" are human and live life. And that's more than enough.
The writing moves smoothly from Yumi's Brooklyn-Jewish grandfather's tales of his life to Yumi's own struggles with her parents to conversations with her school friends, some passages reading like unpretentious poetry.
Great read for preteens and early teens, as well as adults who like a good coming-of-age story.
Nothing extraordinary here except the extraordinary ways "real people" are human and live life. And that's more than enough.
The writing moves smoothly from Yumi's Brooklyn-Jewish grandfather's tales of his life to Yumi's own struggles with her parents to conversations with her school friends, some passages reading like unpretentious poetry.
Great read for preteens and early teens, as well as adults who like a good coming-of-age story.
loveyourlibrary's review against another edition
3.0
I am not a big fan of realistic fiction, but I enjoyed this one. When I finished though all I could think was, "this is the most well adjusted 13 year old around."
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