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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
Another middle school required read finished, and another one I thoroughly enjoyed. I read this in one sitting and can imagine it is well-liked by 6th graders. It is fast-paced, as the action begins within the first few chapters, and the characters are multi-dimensional and clearly defined as either friend or foe. While Naomi, her brother and her grandmother aren't well-off and face many struggled, they aren't established as victims either, which made me like it even more. As Naomi discovers herself and her culture and fights for her found family, I cheered for her. A very enjoyable read filled with positive messages for young people.
Another book about finding your own voice and strength by Munoz Ryan. This one is a bit predictable, but worth reading.
I liked it. I was worried it was going to have too much emphasis on bad parents and custody issues, but it didn’t.
This was really solid. I was totally invested in this girl, her little brother Owen, and her great grandmother's story.
Suspenseful story line, with lovely description of Naomi's discovery of her heritage.
Suspenseful story line, with lovely description of Naomi's discovery of her heritage.
What a BEAUTIFUL easy quick read. As a child of Mexican immigrants in the USA I connected to so much of this story, even as an adult. Highly recommend this to everyone!!
I wanted to give this book three stars, because I really LIKED Naomi and I liked her brother and grandmother and friend Blanca. I liked the central conflict about being un/loved by parents/family. I don't know much about disability, but I liked the way it was presented as any other trial except for the person who was so blinded by her own prejudice she couldn't even really see how it would impact her life let alone her son's.
What I didn't like, and yeah, this is spoilery, is that the villains in this were so utterly completely irredeemable. And a big part of their irredeemability was the fact that they were so obviously aching to use their kids to bilk the government out of support money. But not actually CARE for their children, just use them. To get money. Because, you know, you get so much money from the government for having kids. And of course the good caretaker, the grandmother, who lived in a trailer (within her means) had never even THOUGHT of asking the government for help. And when she does, it's only for legal defense, and that HARDLY counts as welfare, right? Ugh. The main characters are poor, but that isn't really a problem for them, because they're doing things the "right way."
And I wanted to like that the good parent, at least, was the Mexican national, so a reversal of the recent demonization of immigrants, right? But no ... because he DIDN'T move to the U.S., even though he could have made more money here. And the family stayed broken up, but at least they got to write letters to each other!?
Ultimately, the underlying "morality" that demonized individuals who accept help from the state (the state that has so much to do with creating the very economic structures the characters are struggling within) just ruined my sense of happiness in the otherwise heartwarming story.
What I didn't like, and yeah, this is spoilery, is that the villains in this were so utterly completely irredeemable. And a big part of their irredeemability was the fact that they were so obviously aching to use their kids to bilk the government out of support money. But not actually CARE for their children, just use them. To get money. Because, you know, you get so much money from the government for having kids. And of course the good caretaker, the grandmother, who lived in a trailer (within her means) had never even THOUGHT of asking the government for help. And when she does, it's only for legal defense, and that HARDLY counts as welfare, right? Ugh. The main characters are poor, but that isn't really a problem for them, because they're doing things the "right way."
And I wanted to like that the good parent, at least, was the Mexican national, so a reversal of the recent demonization of immigrants, right? But no ... because he DIDN'T move to the U.S., even though he could have made more money here. And the family stayed broken up, but at least they got to write letters to each other!?
Ultimately, the underlying "morality" that demonized individuals who accept help from the state (the state that has so much to do with creating the very economic structures the characters are struggling within) just ruined my sense of happiness in the otherwise heartwarming story.
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This was a cute book.
Cute book, exciting story, great characters. I liked it until the end, when it got very cheesy and moralistic all of a sudden. That's why it only got 3 stars.