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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
"We fight, we Zamoras! We fight for what we believe in. We fight for family. We fight to preserve our sense of home. We fight to be just and fair and above all, we fight for love. No form of exile or malady can defeat us. It is invincible."
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora was a delightful story of Arturo, a kid just trying to survive the summer between 7th and 8th grade. Arturo is part of a large family: they all live in the same apartment complex and most of the family works at La Cocina de la Isla, the restaurant Arturo's grandparents started many years ago. La Cocina de la Isla is a neighborhood staple, serving delicious food and has a caring environment with Arturo's abuela taking the time to get to know each and every patron. Arturo loves Sunday night dinners at the restaurant, where he can enjoy the food and company sitting right next to his abuela. This summer poses some new challenges for Arturo: his mom's goddaughter comes to visit from Spain and Arturo develops a crush on her, his two best friends will be spending several weeks out of town, and there's a slick new land developer who just rolled into town. This guy wants to develop the empty lot next to La Cocina de la Isla into a new highrise that will be exclusive for some members of the community.
I really enjoyed this story. Not only is Arturo incredibly relatable, the cast of characters in this story are very fun. I loved seeing Arturo's relationship with his abuela and seeing him get to know his deceased abuelo through letters he wrote before his death. (I did have to wonder why Arturo seemed to be the favorite grandchild though. That was a storyline I would have liked to see developed). I really enjoyed Arturo's descriptions of what it felt like any time he was around Carmen, the cute girl he's developing feelings for. I liked that Arturo had a summer job at the family restaurant that caused him to learn the importance of showing up for work on time and putting in your best effort yet still having time to enjoy the long summer days just being a kid. But what I really enjoyed was this first look into gentrification. Gentrification is such a complex topic, even for adults, but Cartaya covered the ramifications of gentrification on the existing community so well. This is a fantastic look at how easy it is to sway the community to the new and shiny but also to really think about the community members left behind.
This was a fun middle grade book that I read in one sitting. I'm looking forward to hearing what my middle school students thought of this one. A few of them mentioned the Spanish was a little overwhelming, but I thought Cartaya did a nice job of having Arturo translate the Spanish into English for the untrained Spanish reader.
TW: death of a family member
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora was a delightful story of Arturo, a kid just trying to survive the summer between 7th and 8th grade. Arturo is part of a large family: they all live in the same apartment complex and most of the family works at La Cocina de la Isla, the restaurant Arturo's grandparents started many years ago. La Cocina de la Isla is a neighborhood staple, serving delicious food and has a caring environment with Arturo's abuela taking the time to get to know each and every patron. Arturo loves Sunday night dinners at the restaurant, where he can enjoy the food and company sitting right next to his abuela. This summer poses some new challenges for Arturo: his mom's goddaughter comes to visit from Spain and Arturo develops a crush on her, his two best friends will be spending several weeks out of town, and there's a slick new land developer who just rolled into town. This guy wants to develop the empty lot next to La Cocina de la Isla into a new highrise that will be exclusive for some members of the community.
I really enjoyed this story. Not only is Arturo incredibly relatable, the cast of characters in this story are very fun. I loved seeing Arturo's relationship with his abuela and seeing him get to know his deceased abuelo through letters he wrote before his death. (I did have to wonder why Arturo seemed to be the favorite grandchild though. That was a storyline I would have liked to see developed). I really enjoyed Arturo's descriptions of what it felt like any time he was around Carmen, the cute girl he's developing feelings for. I liked that Arturo had a summer job at the family restaurant that caused him to learn the importance of showing up for work on time and putting in your best effort yet still having time to enjoy the long summer days just being a kid. But what I really enjoyed was this first look into gentrification. Gentrification is such a complex topic, even for adults, but Cartaya covered the ramifications of gentrification on the existing community so well. This is a fantastic look at how easy it is to sway the community to the new and shiny but also to really think about the community members left behind.
This was a fun middle grade book that I read in one sitting. I'm looking forward to hearing what my middle school students thought of this one. A few of them mentioned the Spanish was a little overwhelming, but I thought Cartaya did a nice job of having Arturo translate the Spanish into English for the untrained Spanish reader.
TW: death of a family member
It's great to have a #OwnVoices novel for tweens featuring a Latino boy with a large, extended family, an interesting family business, and a mix of unique, individualized characters.
There may be an audience for stories that emphasize the embarrassing years when boys start to see themselves as men and when they first start to notice their own physical responses to arousal - meaning a racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, blushing, and inability to think clearly.
For the rest of us, we need a plot that makes sense, an interesting setting & characters, and some decent writing. This book gets part of the way there - unfortunately, the places where it falls short are therefore all the more noticeable; two or three times, there is a shift that is not set up or explained and it feels like a paragraph or even a chapter was left out.
For example, when Arturo has seen Wilfrido's plans, and is considering whether or not to tell Abuela, he visits his 2 best friends at Bren's house (where there is a permanently-installed bounce house connected to a swimming pool), and they talk as they jump (but despite the heat, do not go swimming?!?) and what seems to happen is the two boys immediately become engaged in the family business drama, Bren getting *more emotional than Arturo* about the possible closing of the restaurant, and Mop offering to leave Arturo a legal dictionary and reminding him that his father works at City Hall. The legal dictionary disappears and is a red herring - unless perhaps it gave Arturo's mother information that she discussed in a phone call with Mop's father, or suggested something to Arturo's father that he could use when he whispered "advice" to Wilfrido in the golf cart that makes him clear out his bulldozer. Readers will never know! Because in both cases, Arturo is not included in the pivotal action or crucial discussion.
In fact, even though a big deal is made of Arturo & Carmen finding out information, and wanting to do something about it, when they get around to telling Arturo's mother and she calls a meeting, *everyone* at the meeting already knows everything, and both Arturo & Carmen are just two young, extraneous children in the room where all the older teens and adults are taking care of business.
Finally, I believe Cartaya purposely left out any explanation of why the fictional characters of Arturo's extended family, and especially his grandparents, left Cuba in the first place in about 1975.
Actual Cuban immigrants' political opinions are a conundrum - for many years they were universally anti-Castro (presumably that's why they left Cuba), making them vote like conservative Republicans and pro-business, laissez-faire capitalists. But since the embargo against Cuba was such a total failure, and so many Cubans were sending money back to Cuba and investing in Cuba, when the Republicans failed to shift policy, many Cubans started leaning toward Democrats. There is a distinct political split by generations of Cubans - the younger ones don't seem to love the lack of social services, the xenophobia, and the uptightness of conservative politics. (see: https://lacc.fiu.edu/research/publications/papers-by-fiu-faculty-at-lasa/guillermo-j-grenier.pdf )
With all the opportunities for inter-generational conversation about gentrification and politics between Cartaya's characters, it surprised me that the story revolved around a disagreement between a small-scale capitalist family and a large-scale capitalist opportunist.
I confess that I agree that simply because Abuela is nice to everyone, it does make her family business better than Wilfrido's. BUT Wilfrido is a cardboard cutout of a villain - a joke, and the argument isn't really made except on a poetic level that it's nice to stick with the older, established capitalists who started their business out of love, rather than the glitzy, manipulative capitalist whose business is more about money.
However, there is a real story there! In the actual Miami/Dade County, I bet the biggest victims of unchecked gentrification and real-estate development were 10 or 20 years ago; Wealthy investors
(including some Cubans like Wilfrido) taking land from a diverse population of black and white, Latino and non-Latino senior citizens living in near poverty on prime real estate in run-down buildings that were begging for decades for City/County investment in social services and intervention against exploitative landlords. Even today, if you roll down your tinted windows in your air-conditioned SUV with Trump bumper stickers, drive about 10 minutes past the unbelievably large-scale development of high-rises in Brickell, you will see the poverty of thousands of people living in aging low-rise housing developments with no air conditioning, sitting out on their concrete front steps, hanging out. (see: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottbeyer/2017/10/31/miami-and-san-francisco-two-different-latino-gentrification-narratives/#15a6e1552b00 then look up stats on Little Havana & Overtown.)
So even though this is #OwnVoices, I'm just wondering how Cartaya decided on this particular story?
SORRY for this long post. I guess I have a bee in my bonnet.
There may be an audience for stories that emphasize the embarrassing years when boys start to see themselves as men and when they first start to notice their own physical responses to arousal - meaning a racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, blushing, and inability to think clearly.
For the rest of us, we need a plot that makes sense, an interesting setting & characters, and some decent writing. This book gets part of the way there - unfortunately, the places where it falls short are therefore all the more noticeable; two or three times, there is a shift that is not set up or explained and it feels like a paragraph or even a chapter was left out.
For example, when Arturo has seen Wilfrido's plans, and is considering whether or not to tell Abuela, he visits his 2 best friends at Bren's house (where there is a permanently-installed bounce house connected to a swimming pool), and they talk as they jump (but despite the heat, do not go swimming?!?) and what seems to happen is the two boys immediately become engaged in the family business drama, Bren getting *more emotional than Arturo* about the possible closing of the restaurant, and Mop offering to leave Arturo a legal dictionary and reminding him that his father works at City Hall. The legal dictionary disappears and is a red herring - unless perhaps it gave Arturo's mother information that she discussed in a phone call with Mop's father, or suggested something to Arturo's father that he could use when he whispered "advice" to Wilfrido in the golf cart that makes him clear out his bulldozer. Readers will never know! Because in both cases, Arturo is not included in the pivotal action or crucial discussion.
In fact, even though a big deal is made of Arturo & Carmen finding out information, and wanting to do something about it, when they get around to telling Arturo's mother and she calls a meeting, *everyone* at the meeting already knows everything, and both Arturo & Carmen are just two young, extraneous children in the room where all the older teens and adults are taking care of business.
Finally, I believe Cartaya purposely left out any explanation of why the fictional characters of Arturo's extended family, and especially his grandparents, left Cuba in the first place in about 1975.
Actual Cuban immigrants' political opinions are a conundrum - for many years they were universally anti-Castro (presumably that's why they left Cuba), making them vote like conservative Republicans and pro-business, laissez-faire capitalists. But since the embargo against Cuba was such a total failure, and so many Cubans were sending money back to Cuba and investing in Cuba, when the Republicans failed to shift policy, many Cubans started leaning toward Democrats. There is a distinct political split by generations of Cubans - the younger ones don't seem to love the lack of social services, the xenophobia, and the uptightness of conservative politics. (see: https://lacc.fiu.edu/research/publications/papers-by-fiu-faculty-at-lasa/guillermo-j-grenier.pdf )
With all the opportunities for inter-generational conversation about gentrification and politics between Cartaya's characters, it surprised me that the story revolved around a disagreement between a small-scale capitalist family and a large-scale capitalist opportunist.
I confess that I agree that simply because Abuela is nice to everyone, it does make her family business better than Wilfrido's. BUT Wilfrido is a cardboard cutout of a villain - a joke, and the argument isn't really made except on a poetic level that it's nice to stick with the older, established capitalists who started their business out of love, rather than the glitzy, manipulative capitalist whose business is more about money.
However, there is a real story there! In the actual Miami/Dade County, I bet the biggest victims of unchecked gentrification and real-estate development were 10 or 20 years ago; Wealthy investors
(including some Cubans like Wilfrido) taking land from a diverse population of black and white, Latino and non-Latino senior citizens living in near poverty on prime real estate in run-down buildings that were begging for decades for City/County investment in social services and intervention against exploitative landlords. Even today, if you roll down your tinted windows in your air-conditioned SUV with Trump bumper stickers, drive about 10 minutes past the unbelievably large-scale development of high-rises in Brickell, you will see the poverty of thousands of people living in aging low-rise housing developments with no air conditioning, sitting out on their concrete front steps, hanging out. (see: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottbeyer/2017/10/31/miami-and-san-francisco-two-different-latino-gentrification-narratives/#15a6e1552b00 then look up stats on Little Havana & Overtown.)
So even though this is #OwnVoices, I'm just wondering how Cartaya decided on this particular story?
SORRY for this long post. I guess I have a bee in my bonnet.
This is a bit of a quiet read. It starts out slow but has a charm to it that elevates it just enough.
This is a cute, enjoyable book that I will be glad to have on the shelf for my kids when they are old enough to read it. It addresses themes of family, love, culture, and language in ways that will make young people reflect, but without being too heavy or going over their heads. Arturo's exploring of his Cuban roots will surely inspire other young people to learn about the family members who came before them and their linguistic and cultural heritage.
I think this book will be most appropriate for and enjoyed by young people in maybe 4th through 8th grades. Whereas some YA books lend themselves more to the "adult" range, this lends itself more to the "young" range.
Also, I listened to the Spanish audio version of this book and highly recommend that you do the same if you speak Spanish. Pablo Cartaya reads the book himself, and he has a beautiful voice. His Spanish occasionally shows traits of the language as spoken by people born in the US, which is perfect because it is exactly how I imagine the protagonist Arturo Zamora will speak Spanish when he grows up (something tells me some of this story may be biographical). His voice adds some great authenticity to the audio and I would honestly love to be able to speak in Spanish like this one day myself! #goals
I think this book will be most appropriate for and enjoyed by young people in maybe 4th through 8th grades. Whereas some YA books lend themselves more to the "adult" range, this lends itself more to the "young" range.
Also, I listened to the Spanish audio version of this book and highly recommend that you do the same if you speak Spanish. Pablo Cartaya reads the book himself, and he has a beautiful voice. His Spanish occasionally shows traits of the language as spoken by people born in the US, which is perfect because it is exactly how I imagine the protagonist Arturo Zamora will speak Spanish when he grows up (something tells me some of this story may be biographical). His voice adds some great authenticity to the audio and I would honestly love to be able to speak in Spanish like this one day myself! #goals
Purchased because it's a title in Project Lit's '19-'20 middle grade collection. Review falls between 3-4 stars. Closest book connection I draw is to Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
Liked that gentrification is brought up in an understandable way for 10-12 yr. old readers. Liked the inclusion of Jose Marti and the Cuba to Miami immigration of Arturo's ancestors. Liked the bilingualism where Spanish speakers would get more out of it, but non-speakers don't feel excluded. Liked the description of working the dishwasher in a bustling family restaurant & Abuela's apartment with plastic on couch and blasting A/C.
Disliked the rushed ending; no emotional connection elicited when the town council's decision is revealed about Pipo's Palace vs. La Cocina gaining ownership of the vacant lot for development. Disliked the one-sided love story that tried too hard to be like Abuelo/Abuela.
Liked that gentrification is brought up in an understandable way for 10-12 yr. old readers. Liked the inclusion of Jose Marti and the Cuba to Miami immigration of Arturo's ancestors. Liked the bilingualism where Spanish speakers would get more out of it, but non-speakers don't feel excluded. Liked the description of working the dishwasher in a bustling family restaurant & Abuela's apartment with plastic on couch and blasting A/C.
Disliked the rushed ending; no emotional connection elicited when the town council's decision is revealed about Pipo's Palace vs. La Cocina gaining ownership of the vacant lot for development. Disliked the one-sided love story that tried too hard to be like Abuelo/Abuela.
I loved so many parts of this book. The reason is it a 4 and not 5 is that I got a little bogged down in the middle. I would love to get a class set of this book for a classroom to use. I am handing this off to another teacher to read. Lots of cross curricular opportunities.
Gentrification
Cuba
Death
Poetry
Cooking
Family
immigrants
Friends
Young Love (not too deep)
Gentrification
Cuba
Death
Poetry
Cooking
Family
immigrants
Friends
Young Love (not too deep)
Arturo’s family owns a restaurant that was started by his grandparents when they first moved to Miami from Cuba. The community loves the restaurant but also adores Arturo’s abuela. The family has the opportunity to expand their restaurant for the community to enjoy, but all of that may be ruined when a developer comes into the community and has plans to take over the space with an ‘exclusive’ building.
I really enjoyed the story. I listened to it which made it more fun since I was able to hear all the Spanish vocabulary. I thought the story moved along well. The focus on strong family bonds I also enjoyed since it is not something very common in popular culture. Arturo is a great character and easily likeable - so hard working and just like an average kid who knows how to stand up for what he believes in.
I really enjoyed the story. I listened to it which made it more fun since I was able to hear all the Spanish vocabulary. I thought the story moved along well. The focus on strong family bonds I also enjoyed since it is not something very common in popular culture. Arturo is a great character and easily likeable - so hard working and just like an average kid who knows how to stand up for what he believes in.
1.5 stars but i rounded it up. i feel like this is VERY generous considering how bad this book was.
"her rainbow braces made her look so mature" WHAT?
absolutely not. no.
i don’t know maybe i just hate this book because i haven't read a book written by someone who writes for a younger audience in so long. the writing literally made me want to scream. i also had to read this for school so that might also be a contributing factor
edit: thought this over a bit more, it's a one star rating
"her rainbow braces made her look so mature" WHAT?
absolutely not. no.
i don’t know maybe i just hate this book because i haven't read a book written by someone who writes for a younger audience in so long. the writing literally made me want to scream. i also had to read this for school so that might also be a contributing factor
edit: thought this over a bit more, it's a one star rating