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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
A great story about family, food, love and community. Arturo is part of a boisterous clan who are pillars of the community, especially his abulea. Their family restaurant is in jeopardy as a new high rise project comes to town. Arturo needs to save his family’s business and try to tell a girl that he likes her. The underlying themes of family and community make it an inspiring read. The cultural aspects of his grandparents coming to Miami from Cuba and creating such a strong family and business is also an integral part of the story. There are bits of Spanish, some translated. No violence or swears. 4th grade and up.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
I waited way too long to recap this book so my memories are less than fresh.
However, I do remember absolutely loving this book and the highly relatable nature of the story and the narrator, Arturo. I also loved how realistically Cartaya wove Spanish in with English. He clearly relates to this code switching from real life.
I definitely recommend this book, especially to Hispanic American young adults.
However, I do remember absolutely loving this book and the highly relatable nature of the story and the narrator, Arturo. I also loved how realistically Cartaya wove Spanish in with English. He clearly relates to this code switching from real life.
I definitely recommend this book, especially to Hispanic American young adults.
This is a sweet story about the importance of family and community.
Wonderfully endearing protagonist, just the right amount of romance, a wonderful introduction to activism, poetry, gentrification -- with delicious recipes to boot!
I happened to read Arturo Zamora on the heels of a similar situation in our own neighborhood. Here, it was a bookstore, but the story was otherwise the same: an outside developer was threatening to close a fifty-year-old institution so that they could redevelop an old building into work-live-lofts. There's no actual evidence that our city has the need for that sort of development but there was no arguing with faceless developers
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comments_06/epic_fail_of_arturo_zamora.html
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comments_06/epic_fail_of_arturo_zamora.html
Review originally published at https://www.sevenacrebooks.com/chick-picks/
Summer is just beginning and Arturo Zamora is about to start his first job at his family’s restaurant, La Cocina de la Isla. Thinking he’ll be able to start in the kitchen where his mother is head chef, Arturo is disappointed to learn he’ll be spending his summer wet and soapy while washing dishes. His summer takes an interesting turn when a family friend and his daughter Carmen move into the apartment complex where Arturo and his entire extended family live.
This idea of an entire family living in one apartment building is both intriguing and terrifying. The Zamoras are a very tight-knit and supportive family. The grandparents immigrated from Havana, Cuba and worked hard to start their first business, the restaurant that is now owned by their daughter Cari. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and Arturo himself work at the restaurant and everyone is invested in the success. Every Sunday the restaurant is closed so the family can have dinner together. The fact that Cari can cook all day long, six days a week, and then put on a big family dinner on Sunday is amazing. That’s a superpower. Dealing with family 24/7 is another one.
The themes of family and hard work are reinforced over and over again. When a developer named Wilfrido Pipo tries to convince the community and city council that a high dollar development is better for the community than the restaurant expanding, Arturo and Carmen work together to stop him. Between undercover missions, festival protests, an unexpected death, and city council meetings, the kids realize that working together with the family and never giving up is the only way to win.
Highly recommend for those 10 & up.
Summer is just beginning and Arturo Zamora is about to start his first job at his family’s restaurant, La Cocina de la Isla. Thinking he’ll be able to start in the kitchen where his mother is head chef, Arturo is disappointed to learn he’ll be spending his summer wet and soapy while washing dishes. His summer takes an interesting turn when a family friend and his daughter Carmen move into the apartment complex where Arturo and his entire extended family live.
This idea of an entire family living in one apartment building is both intriguing and terrifying. The Zamoras are a very tight-knit and supportive family. The grandparents immigrated from Havana, Cuba and worked hard to start their first business, the restaurant that is now owned by their daughter Cari. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and Arturo himself work at the restaurant and everyone is invested in the success. Every Sunday the restaurant is closed so the family can have dinner together. The fact that Cari can cook all day long, six days a week, and then put on a big family dinner on Sunday is amazing. That’s a superpower. Dealing with family 24/7 is another one.
The themes of family and hard work are reinforced over and over again. When a developer named Wilfrido Pipo tries to convince the community and city council that a high dollar development is better for the community than the restaurant expanding, Arturo and Carmen work together to stop him. Between undercover missions, festival protests, an unexpected death, and city council meetings, the kids realize that working together with the family and never giving up is the only way to win.
Highly recommend for those 10 & up.
I wasn’t sure about this one, at first. But this family drew me in and mead me a part of their lives. So much so, that when I put the book down, I found myself wondering about them and hoping it would go in their favor.
Arturo Zamora is not an epic fail. This is definitely one of the best juvenille books I have read in awhile, and so well written in general! Pablo Cartaya is coming to our library next week to do a writing workshop and I am so excited to talk to him about this book. It made me think about my family in Florida and all of our traditions, along with the history of my grandad and grandma. By the end I was crying in the fetal position because of how many feelings I had.