Asian Pacific American Literature - "The Imp That Ate My Homework" by Laurence Yep

Bibliographic data
Yep, Laurence. The Imp That Ate My Homework. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.

Brief plot summary
Jim doesn’t know what to write about when his teacher gives him an assignment about writing about his grandfather, who just happens to be the meanest man he knows. An Imp shows up and eats the report that Jim just finished about his grandfather. Jim and everyone around him is in trouble with that mischievous Imp running around destroying everything. Follow Jim and his grandfather around Chinatown as they try to keep the sanity while the Imp runs around destroying things.


Critical analysis
This was a very odd book for me to read in this module. I have never heard of anything named “Imp.” I actually had to look up what Imps really were about after reading the short novel. I found out that they are not devious, as they most commonly are referred to as, but instead they act mischievous.

The family and their culture truly stand out in this book by Yep. Jim’s grandfather truly has difficulty with feeling comfortable in American civilization. He criticizes everything about American and American culture. He causes traffic jams with his temper, criticizes the way his family cooks rice, not staying with Chinese traditional methods.

The language is also a bit different in this novel. It contains some broken English when the grandfather is speaking. The entire family works hard in Chinatown to make ends meet. The mother works in a sweatshop. What is different than today is that Jim tends to be able to visit his entire family while they are at work. I know that is not a custom in most family’s work situations today.

The illustrations in the book are plain with just pencil-type drawings but very detailed. The drawings of the Imp help readers like myself be able to see what an Imp truly looks like. They almost tend to look like the Chinese dragon that is used to celebrate the Chinese New Year.


Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Yep has written a fast-paced, light adventure that is full of the flavor of San Francisco's Chinatown. The clash of modern and traditional cultures is common among many immigrant groups and perhaps this whimsical look at the conflict will help children value and understand their grandparents. Huang's humorous and lively illustrations capture the personalities and action of the story.?

Kirkus Reviews
Yep telescopes the plot severely; he occasionally checks the pace long enough for a peek into a sweatshop, or a conversation about the younger generation's drift away from traditional culture. Still, readers will not be able to put this light, funny fantasy down.

Connections
Laurence Yep is a very prominent Asian American author. Read Dragon’s Gate, his Newbery Honor book and his picture book, The Dragon Prince.

Asian Pacific American Literature - "Tea with Milk" by Allen Say

Bibliographic data
Say, Allen. Tea with Milk. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

Brief plot summary
May’s parents speak Japanese and eat Japanese food at home, while May eats American food and prefers to speak English. Her parents get homesick so they decide to move the family back to Japan. May struggles in Japan and doesn’t feel like she belongs. Will she finally embrace her parents’ country and feel more accepted?

Critical analysis
These touching book signifies the difficulties of not finding a place for someone from another culture to fit in. May’s parents were not comfortable in American and May is not comfortable in Japan. This is a sad story because neither one of them is comfortable together in one place.

Not only does May have to move to another country, but her name also is changed. In American she was known as May, but in Japan her Japanese name is used, Ma-chan. Her food choices change from eating pancakes and muffins and tea with milk and sugar at her friends’ houses to only eating Japanese cuisine.

The illustrations are simple but still full of detail. The skin detail is a faint white with just a hint of tan. The watercolors Say uses are brilliant soft colors. The clothing changes style very early in the book. The first page has May in her dress on the front porch and above her waves an American flag. The next illustration shows May in her kimono in Japan. Her facial expressions are very blank throughout most of the story. Readers will be able to appreciate the turn of events for May and notice the change of expression on her face. She begins to look more elated and personable.

What makes this book more special than most, is that the story is about the author’s parents and how they met. It is a touching story and tribute to them and even has a watercolor picture of the both of them in the back.

Review excerpt
School Library Journal
The pages are filled with detailed drawings featuring Japanese architecture and clothing, and because of the artist's mastery at drawing figures, the people come to life as authentic and sympathetic characters. This is a thoughtful and poignant book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly our nation's many immigrants who grapple with some of the same challenges as May and Joseph, including feeling at home in a place that is not their own.

Publishers Weekly
Say sets off his cultural metaphor from the very start, contrasting the green tea Masako has for breakfast in her home, with the "tea with milk and sugar" she drinks at her friends' houses in America. Later, when she meets a young Japanese businessman who also prefers tea with milk and sugar to green tea, readers will know that she's met her match. Say reveals on the final page that the couple are his parents.

Connections
Read: TREE OF CRANES by Allen Say
GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY by Allen Say

Asian Pacific American Literature - "Sixteen Years in Sixteen Second: The Sammy Lee Story"

Bibliographic data
Yoo, Paula. Sixteen Years in Sixteen Second: The Sammy Lee Story. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2005.

Brief plot summary
In 1932, twelve-year-old Sammy struggles with segregation. Sammy wants to jump in the pool on hot summer days but is only allowed at the pool on Wednesdays because he is “of color.” Sammy’s father wants him to concentrate on his studies and to get into medical school, but Sammy wants to practice diving instead. A man watches him diving in the pool and critics his diving. He offers to coach him and prepare him for the Olympics. Sammy fulfills both of their dreams in this poignant true story of discrimination.

Critical analysis
This great picture book tells of a true story of the first Asian American to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Most of the time when we read or hear about discrimination we usually think it’s about African Americans and Caucasians. In this story it reminds readers that anyone can be discriminated against. Readers that do not know much about the discrimination in the 30’s on throughout WWII, will get to read about a true story of one boy and his struggle to achieve his dream and his father’s dream for him.

Many people link Asians with intelligence. Many more Asians than Americans spend more time with their studies. Sammy’s father wants him to concentrate more on his studies than his diving activities. He wants him to become a doctor while Sammy wants to become an Olympic diving champion. Throughout the book, Sammy’s father reminds him, “In America…you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it.” Sammy’s father like most parents, want only the best for his child. He tries to steer him in the right direction, of becoming a doctor. Finally, through hard work, Sammy achieves both of their dreams.

The pictures throughout the book are all illustrated in lovely rich earth tones. The illustrations are large with particular attention to detail. My favorite pictures in this book are the diving illustrations. For each dive, there are three panels, each showing the motion of the jump. Dom Lee, the illustrator, pays close attention to detail, even mapping out the muscles in Sammy’s figure perfectly. Family is important for this culture and the illustrator demonstrates this by the closeness seen with Sammy and his father in the book. In one particular illustration, Lee portrays Sammy looking through his father’s shoebox, which is filled with money. Behind him on the wall framed pictures of his family are displayed along with the trophies Sammy has one in his diving competitions.

This story is important to have available for readers because it tells of the first Asian American to win an Olympic medal. It took Sammy sixteen years to become an Olympian and the dive took sixteen seconds. This is a great book to incorporate into anyone’s library, public, school, or personal collection. On the back of this hardcover picture book there is a photograph of the real Sammy Lee.

Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Yoo brings the biography to a dramatic conclusion with the 16 seconds of a three-and-a-half somersault dive. Lee's painterly illustrations give texture and depth to the full-page spreads. More than a story about discrimination and unfair treatment, this story shows one young man's determination and resolve toward accomplishing a goal in life.

Booklist
Yoo describes how Sammy found a coach, maintained a grueling balance between academics and training, and finally earned both a medical degree and an Olympic gold medal. The minimal, well-shaped language focuses on powerful scenes that demonstrate Sammy's indestructible determination, his struggles with his father, and the prejudice he faced. Washed in nostalgic sepia tones, Dom Lee's acrylic-and-wax textured illustrations are reminiscent of his fine work in Ken Mochizuki's watershed Baseball Saved Us (1993), and like Yoo's understated words, the uncluttered images leave a deep impression; an aerial view of Sammy facing the blue expanse of the Olympic pool is particularly affecting. A page of facts closes this handsome, inspiring biography, which will make both an excellent read-aloud for younger children or a read-alone for confident older ones.

Connections
Read: GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo

BASEBALL SAVED US by Ken Mochizuki

Discuss: Segregation issues

Native American Literature - "Jingle Dancer" by Cynthia Leitich-Smith

Bibliographic data
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Jingle Dancer. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.

Brief plot summary
Jenna daydreams about her Grandma Wolfe’s dress and the jingling noise it makes as she dances to the powwow drum. She watched a videotape of her dancing and mimicked her moves. Jenna borrows jingles from her Great-aunt Sis because she can no longer dance. She borrows other’s jingles, enough to make her four rows that she needs to dance in the powwow. She practiced her dance steps and finally performed with all four rows of jingles at the powwow.

Critical analysis
This is Cynthia Leitich-Smith’s first book. She has since became a popular young adult author. The author is a mixed-blood member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and currently lives in Austin, Texas.

She uses terms that are serene and full of nature in this picture book. Some of the phrases used are, “As Moon kissed Sun good night,” “As Sun fetched morning,” “As Sun arrived at midcircle,” and “As Sun caught a glimpse of Moon.” This type of language is commonly seen in Native American legends and tales.

The back of the book gives readers an “Author’s Note” area with a glossary. In the Author’s Note she details more information about Creek Nation. She also explains that the story of Bat that Great-aunt Sis retells to Jenna is a Muscogee traditional story.

Cynthia Leitich-Smith also explains the origin of jingle dancers and their dresses. She states that the tink-tink noise the bells or metal makes is compared to rain falling on a tin roof. Because of the four rows of jingles that are needed for the jingle dance, Smith also explains that the number four is an important number, even sacred for many Native Americans.
There is much to learn from this book about this culture. Dancing and singing is an important part of Native American culture. This book captures the importance of music and dance. The illustrations are large with beautiful coloring. The illustrators use bright colors but not too bright. It’s more of bright, soft watercolor paintings throughout the pages.


Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Watercolor paintings in bright, warm tones fill each page. In scenes where she is dancing, backgrounds of blurred figures effectively represent both the large audience and the many generations whose tradition the gathering honors. Seeing Jenna as both a modern girl in the suburban homes of her intertribal community and as one of many traditionally costumed participants at the powwow will give some readers a new view of a contemporary Native American way of life.

Publishers Weekly
Smith's language consciously evokes legend. For example, "As Sun caught a glimpse of the Moon" indicates the time of day; and Jenna is careful to borrow only a limited number of jingles, "not wanting to take so many that [another's] dress would lose its voice." Van Wright and Hu's (Jewels) lifelike renderings capture the genuine affection between Jenna and these caring older women. Their easy integration of Native and standard furnishings and clothing gracefully complement Smith's heartening portrait of a harmonious meshing of old and new.


Connections
Read more about the local Texas author, Cynthia Leitich-Smith
Read Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich-Smith
Read Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich-Smith

Native American Literature - "The Boy Who Lived With The Bears: And Other Iroquois Stories" by Joseph Bruchac

Bibliographic data
Bruchac, Joseph. Boy Who Lived With Bears and Other Iroquois Stories. New York: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1995.

Brief plot summary
This book contains six short tales from the Iroquois. “Rabbit and Fox” is a story about a Rabbit outwitting a sly Fox. “The Boy Who Lived With the Bears” is a tale about a boy that had to live with his uncle. The uncle decided he didn’t want to take care of him anymore so the boy found a family of bears to live with. “How the Birds Got Their Feathers” birds were too hot or too cold. The buzzard was chosen to fly to get clothes for the birds. This buzzard was greedy about choosing the feathers so he was left with an ugly suit. “Turtle Makes War on Man” is about a turtle that decided to go to war with man. Bear and Wolf try to go with Turtle but he feels like they are not as mighty of warriors as him. Turtle picks up Skunk and Rattlesnake but they don’t make it to go to war with the Haudenosaunee people. “Chipmunk and Bear” is a tale about a foolish Bear and a bully of a Chipmunk. “Rabbit’s Snow Dance” is about a greedy Rabbit that dances and sings for more snow.


Critical analysis
Once again, many of the tales begin, “Long ago, backing the days when the animals could talk and the people could understand them” (40). It’s interesting to note that the tales end with, “This is how that story goes. Ho? Hey.” What is nice about these tales is that all have a reason and it provides something for readers to learn while enjoying the stories.

In the story about the boy who lived with bears, tell adults to love their children. Many of the tales have to do with choosing not to be greedy. All of the tales have something to learn from and that is an important aspect of oral traditional storytelling in Native American culture.
This is a special book because it was originally produced for audio and it appears in written form for the first time for many of the tales. Just as most of us grew up reading or listening to Aesop’s Fables, The Iroquois have gone through several generations hearing these tales.

Murv Jacob, the illustrator in this book is a painter and pipemaker of Cherokee descent. He lives in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which is where most of the Cherokee population now lives. The tops and bottoms of the pages have lovely ornately drawn pictures in a soft grey color. For each story there is a full-page picture depicting what is happening in the tale. These pictures are rich in color and very detailed. Jacob uses deep, rich colors in his paintings.

Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Although these stories can be found in other anthologies, including Bruchac's Iroquois Stories (Crossing, 1985), they are gathered here for younger children and presented as lessons the tribal elders might pass on during winter story times. The reteller's introduction is instructive and sets the mood for these humorous, moral?but never didactic?tales. Each one is carefully crafted with precise language and striking images.

Booklist
His direct, immediate language makes the book accessible to a wide range of children, including reluctant and new readers, and the humor and inherent drama make the tales ideal for reading and telling aloud. The seven full-page color paintings by Murv Jacob are brightly framed with floral and other patterns that enhance the vibrant compositions, and, whether animal or human, the characters are nicely individualized and energetically executed. A gray flowered border surrounds each page of text, the type is large, the design is spacious, and the detailing is attractive.

Connections
Discuss the differences between the many Native American tribes
Compare these tales to Aesop's Fables

Read:
Bruchac, Joseph, Code Talker:A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during World War II in their native tongue.

Bruchac, Joseph. A Boy Called Slow: The True Story of Sitting Bull.
The true story of a child so deliberate and methodical he was called Slow; he turns out to be Sitting Bull, the Lakota's greatest leader.

Native American Literature - "How Turtle's Back Was Cracked" by Gayle Ross

Bibliographic data
Ross, Gayle. How Turtle's Back Was Cracked: A Traditional Cherokee Tale. New York: Dial, 1995.

Brief plot summary
This is traditional Cherokee tale is about Turtle and Possum. Turtle and Possum are friends that help each other and share persimmons. Wolf comes up and starts eating all their persimmons. The wolf dies at the hand of the possum but the turtle takes all the credit and flaunts his triumph. A pack of wolves try to even the score with Turtle but Turtle is pretty quick-witted and begs for them not to throw him in the river. The wolves do so and the turtle’s shell is broke from hitting a rock. The turtle mends himself and that is why turtles always have cracked looking shells.

Critical analysis
Gayle Ross is a professional storyteller and a direct descendant of John Ross who is the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation during the Trail of Tears. She states inside the book that she inherited her love of storytelling from her grandmother. In the author’s note she writes that she has known this story since she was a small girl. The end of the book brings readers into a short synopsis about the Cherokee nation.

This story began as an oral tale as most of the Native American stories began. The animals are able to talk and understand each other. This is a prominent theme in Native American stories. When Turtle takes the wolf’s ears and turns them into spoons, it signifies the Native American culture as well because they believed if you did that you would be taking a piece of animal spirit.

The turtle seems like an important symbol in Native American culture. Turtles are ancient animals, being around for many, many years. Turtles also live around water and land, which the Indians tried to also do because of the convenience. The turtle is considered sacred to most Native American cultures.

The paintings in the book are by Murv Jacob and has Cherokee heritage. His illustrations draw from traditional Southeastern Indian cultures. His paintings are nothing like Paul Goble’s simple drawings and colors. Jacob’s paintings are full of detail and rich in color. It almost seems that it looks too busy. The Native Americans depicted in the book are very cartoon-ish.


Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Jacob's naive paintings depict animals in Cherokee dress. Stylized sun and moon faces look out of a pointillist sky, and there is an autumnal hue to the landscape. Details like Turtle's wolf-ear spoons and the male body ornaments and fringed belts add authenticity. Patterned borders also use traditional design motifs.

Publishers Weekly
Jacob's tapestry-like acrylics, dense with pattern and detail, bring memorable theater to this story-they suggest a world in which everything, even the breezes in the sky, has tangible presence and import. The prose reflects Ross's expertise as a professional storyteller as well as her intimacy with Cherokee culture (a note on the jacket explains that she is a direct descendant of the chief who led the Cherokee Nation on the Trail of Tears). An endnote briefly summarizes Cherokee history.


Connections
Read more about the Cherokee nation
Read Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back by Joseph Bruchac
How Chipmunk Got His Stripes (Picture Puffins) by Joseph Bruchac
The First Strawberries (Picture Puffin) by Joseph Bruchac How Rabbit Tricked Otter: And Other Cherokee Tricks... by Gayle Ross

Hispanic/Latino(a) Literature - "Tomas and the Library Lady" by Pat Mora

Bibliographic data
Mora, Pat. Tomas and the Library Lady. New York: Knopf Books For Young Readers, 1997.

Brief plot summary
Tomas and his family travel from Texas to Iowa to harvest crops. He carries out water to his family while they are busy farming. On breaks his grandfather has the children gather all around and tells them stories. He tells Tomas that he is now old enough to visit the library where there are many more stories. The librarian gave Tomas some water and introduced him to a variety of books. She let him check out a couple of books and he took them home to show his grandfather. Tomas has to go back to Texas again and has to tell the librarian goodbye.

Critical analysis
This book, written by Pat Mora, is a cute story about Tomas Rivera, a very distinguished man in the Hispanic culture and literature. He was a migrant worker who valued education and Mora puts a nice spin on this introduction for children.

Like Tomas, many Hispanics are migrant workers. They travel from place to place farming and doing other manual labor work. There is some interlingualism scattered throughout the book as the character Tomas teaches the librarian a few choice words and phrases in Spanish.

Again, the sense of a strong-knit family is apparent in this book. The family travels together and plays together. They all have a close bond, especially the grandfather with the grandchildren, including Tomas.

At the end of the book, Tomas tells the librarian he has to now teach her a sad word, adios. They are leaving to go back to Texas. In a nice gesture, Tomas’ mother bakes the librarian a sweet bread, called in Spanish pan dulce.

Raul Colon illustrated this book. His lined illustrations with warm colors definitely brings a hint of Hispanic look to the book. His illustrations are very serene and simple. He captures Hispanic features on the characters distinctly and different than the librarian, who is Caucasian.

Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Tomas Rivera, who at his death in 1984 was the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, grew up in a migrant family. Here, Mora tells the fictionalized story of one summer in his childhood during which his love of books and reading is fostered by a librarian in Iowa, who takes him under her wing while his family works the harvest.

Kirkus Reviews
A charming, true story about the encounter between the boy who would become chancellor at the University of California at Riverside and a librarian in Iowa. Tom s Rivera, child of migrant laborers, picks crops in Iowa in the summer and Texas in the winter, traveling from place to place in a worn old car. Colon's dreamy illustrations capture the brief friendship and its life-altering effects in soft earth tones, using round sculptured shapes that often depict the boy right in the middle of whatever story realm he's entered.

Connections
Discuss what migrant workers are and do some research about where migrant workers worked and what they did.

Read more of Soto’s works.

Hispanic/Latino(a) Literature - "Marisol" by Gary Soto

Bibliographic data
Soto, Gary. Marisol (American Girl Today). Middleton, WI: American Girl, 2004.


Brief plot summary
Marisol is a ten year-old girl that loves to dance. Her favorite dance is the ballet folklorico, which is a Mexican dance. Her parents decide to move to a suburb of Chicago, where they feel that Marisol might have a better life because the city is getting dangerous. Marisol is saddened because the streets hold all of her friends and she will miss dance lessons. What she finds out is that she can be happy elsewhere also, but keep her friends close from Chicago. She might even come upon another dance studio in her new town.

Critical analysis
This book keeps a reader’s attention, like many other American Girl series books. The book has a great sense of a typical Latino family. They live in a city and their neighborhood seems to be not safe enough for Marisol anymore.

The Latino girl focuses on all the good characteristics her old neighborhood as she prepares to leave. She will forever love dance and is saddened when she can’t find a dance studio in her new town.

I found it odd that this book focused on the negative aspects of living in a Latino neighborhood that seem to have more positive aspects than negative, then to move to a predominantly white, suburban neighborhood to make Marisol more safe and to provide a better life for her. The book did not embrace Latino culture in that sense.

The book has a few Spanish words within the English language dispersed, which is called interlingualism. The names of the characters are typical Hispanic names.

There were just a few illustrations throughout the book depicting the events that were going on in the text. In the back of the book there is a small section that lets readers follow along with four different girls, from many different cultural backgrounds and their types of dances. Anna is learning ballet but likes modern dance. Sisters Laura and Anna are very well trained in pointe ballet. They have been in many different ballet recitals, including The Nutcracker. Alinne is from Mexico City and enjoys ballet folklorico and has many different skirts for the different type of Mexican dances she performs.
The end of the book contains a glossary of Spanish words used throughout the book. This glossary would be helpful to those that do not know many Spanish words and their meaning.

Review excerpt
I have looked everywhere for editorial reviews and have exhausted my search. I’ve checked many of the databases located in the Texas Woman’s University. I have also checked Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I even tried to use Google for any reviews and came up with nothing.


Connections
Children and read more books by Gary Soto and also check out more of the American Girl series.
A lot of the book consists of discussing different types of dance. Show children the different costumes of dances and perhaps even demonstrate the ballet folklorico.

Hispanic/Latino(a) Literature - "How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay" by Julia Alvarez

Bibliographic data
Alvarez, Julia. How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay. New York: Yearling, 2002. ISBN 0375802150

Brief plot summary
Ten year-old Miguel and his mother and sister just moved to Vermont from New York. His parents divorced and his Aunt Lola comes to visit them in Vermont from the Dominican Republic. Tia Lola doesn’t speak English and the children do not speak Spanish very well. Despite the language barrier, the children and their colorful Aunt Lola learn a lot from each other.

Critical analysis
Julia Alvarez does a great job of incorporating the Spanish/Dominican culture and language with the English/U.S. culture and language. This book, along with many of her other books, is an excellent introduction to cross-culturalism. This book contains difficult situations. First, the children’s parents divorce. Secondly, the mother moves the children to a different state and they have to adjust to a different school, town, and friends. These are issues that any race has to deal with sometimes. However, the difficulties of language and culture barriers surpass expectations in this book. Upon seeing Tia Lola, Miguel fears all of distinctions that make him different from the other children at school. Tia Lola is very eccentric and this makes it difficult for Miguel to embrace her at first.

Nevertheless, as found in many Hispanic communities, family plays an important role and Tia Lola and the children are able to work together in order to get past the difficult divorce of their parents, which is why their aunt came to visit them anyway.

Communication is where the children and Tia Lola first begin to have difficulty. In order for the children to go see their father in New York, Tia Lola must learn some English. She also asks that the children learn some Spanish in return. It is quite humorous to read about their escapades in this process.

Alvarez uses Spanish words and terms throughout the novel and most of the time those Spanish words are defined in English. However, I found in reading the novel that not all Spanish terms were defined in English. There were a few instances when I had to use my own background in Spanish classes to figure out what that word had meant.

Alvarez included a page in her novel entitled, “A Word About the Spanish” for readers not fluent in the Spanish language. She provides readers with a synopsis on the different Spanish dialects and pronunciations. Her Spanish language stems from Dominican Republic Spanish, which combines words into one word and their s’s are swallowed. This gives readers a sense of culture as well. It is a great addition to the novel.


Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Readers will enjoy the funny situations, identify with the developing relationships and conflicting feelings of the characters, and will get a spicy taste of Caribbean culture in the bargain.

Booklist
Alvarez's first book for young readers sometimes reads like a docu-novel, but the warmth of the individual characters and the simple music of the narrative will appeal to middle-graders. So will the play with language. Tia Lola teaches Miguel and Juanita Spanish as she talks, so the English translation is right there in the text. They teach her English, which she practices on everyone in town with hilarious effect.

Connections
Read more of Julia Alvarez’s books:
· In the Time of Butterflies
· How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
· Before We Were Free

Talk about the Spanish words in the book and discuss what the definitions of those terms are. Use this as a way to build a child’s Spanish vocabulary.