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jamieejamess 's review for:
The Only Road
by Alexandra Diaz
I am really glad that I read this book. I haven't read much middle grade since being in middle school myself and this one definitely did not disappoint. After working in a school with many children who were new to the states, it was frightening and heartbreaking to learn about how they might have arrived in front of me. The ending felt a bit easy, which considering this is a middle grade novel and the amount of heartbreak throughout, I can forgive it to an extent but woah they sure did make it across the actual border in like 3 pages (or so it felt).
I liked how it felt like Jaime grew up from when he left his small town to when he reached his destination. I feel like he had age appropriate realizations that were crucial to his character.
The Spanish used throughout was great and I liked (?? maybe because I speak Spanish) that not all of it was translated. I appreciated how the author addressed different "accents" (not dialects, even though they are from Guatemala where indigenous languages are frequently spoken as the primary language). She talked about different linguistic features between different Guatemala like "vos" vs "usted" which was really cool, since many do not know about these idiosyncrasies in the Spanish language!
As soon as I finished, I ordered the second book in the series as I can't wait to read about Jaime and Angela's transition into the US school system and life in the US after all that they have been through. I think that this is a great book for educators to read to try and understand what their students possibly have been through, especially since this story is told from the perspective of a 12 y/o.
I liked how it felt like Jaime grew up from when he left his small town to when he reached his destination. I feel like he had age appropriate realizations that were crucial to his character.
The Spanish used throughout was great and I liked (?? maybe because I speak Spanish) that not all of it was translated. I appreciated how the author addressed different "accents" (not dialects, even though they are from Guatemala where indigenous languages are frequently spoken as the primary language). She talked about different linguistic features between different Guatemala like "vos" vs "usted" which was really cool, since many do not know about these idiosyncrasies in the Spanish language!
As soon as I finished, I ordered the second book in the series as I can't wait to read about Jaime and Angela's transition into the US school system and life in the US after all that they have been through. I think that this is a great book for educators to read to try and understand what their students possibly have been through, especially since this story is told from the perspective of a 12 y/o.