Review Detail

Many multicultural books speak of working between worlds and doing one thing under certain conditions and another under others. What was interesting about this book is the celebration and freedom that come from the idea of mixing multiple languages together into a unique format. Sami loves to let his English and Spanish mix and flow as an expression of his uniqueness. However, more traditional family members do not always approve and his friends do not always understand. This book will resonate with bilingual students who face the same challenges. Through context, the Spanish and Spanglish used can be figured out, but I love the glossary in the back that correlates the Spanish, English, and Spanglish used in the story. Language is always evolving and the American Language is robust in words from many influences. In time, many of these Spanglish words could be used in everyday dialogue and that idea is very neat.