Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri. Lee and Low Books, 2010. 85 Pages.

Fictionalized account of the true story of the short life and death of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, a young gangbanger whose death at the age of 11 came to symbolize the crises of poverty and violence overtaking US cities in the 1990s. 11 year old Roger, the fictionalized narrator, tells a documented and factual story of Yummy. Roger is also dealing with the fact that his older brother is also deep into the street life. While this end badly for Yummy, the additon of the fictionalized Roger allows for a hopeful note -- important for middle school students-- the main audience for this book. Recommended.

Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005. 253 pages.

Romantic and swashbuckling, the first in a series, Captain Alatriste was recommended to me by a homeless man in the library--and he was right. Set in 17th century Spain, Diego Alatriste, veteren of the 30 years war, is hired by the Grand Inquisitor to kill a traveler who turns out to be the Prince of Wales...and the plot thickens! Pérez-Reverte is a master storyteller-- weaving a tale of intrigue and adventure and romance-- with Alatriste he creates a hero who every man wants to be and every woman wants to be with. Pérez-Reverte deftly adds plenty of historic detail that enhances the tale, but never overwhelms. I haven't loved an adult series like this in a long time. A great book from a phenomenal writer. Read it.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Vintage Books, 2009. 337 pages.

What Work Is-Poems by Philip Levine. Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. 77 pages

Carmen: an urban adaptation of the opera by Walter Dean Myers. Egmont, NY, 2011. 140 pages

I love the opera Carmen and I love Walter Dean Myers and I wanted to love this but I could not. It is set up exactly as a play-- the settings, the stage instructions, the music. Set in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) the characters are modern reincarnations of the original novela, pre-Bizet, infact-- modeled after West Side Story. Factory workers, cops instead of soldiers, a Hip Hop Star instead of a Toreador, but the story remains basically the same. I still love the idea, but i thought the dialog was stilted and unnatural ("We'll do the caper..."?) and many of the characters and settings were dangerously close to stereotyping. Please-- i still love Walter Dean Myers and he added an author's note explaining why he wanted to work with Carmen, he spoke about the very public music in the Harlem of his youth, about the stereotyping he had encountered in different versions of the novella-- in fact i enjoyed the author's note very much-- much more than the novela.
Unfortunately, I can see adults liking this a lot, but i do not see it speaking to kids-- only to an adult idea of what speaks to kids. Myers does not usually write about Latinos, and Carmen, unfortunately, is not what he does best. Sorry. it was very well reviewed but I was so disappointed.

The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Scholastic Press, 2010. 334 Pages

Fictionalized account of the sad childhood of the Great Latin American Poet, Pablo Neruda. Young Pablo is a sickly frail boy growing up with a loving but subservient grandmother and an overbearing, bully father in early 20th century Chile. Young Pablo's gift with words was noted early and often, but his father considered the field of "letters" feminine and unsuitable for a son of his.

Alvin Ho: allergic to girls, school and other scary things by Lenore Look. Schwartz & Wade, 2008. 170 pages

Meet Alvin Ho-lives in Concord Massachusetts, obsessed with Henry David Thoreau and all things local history, middle child in an average Chinese American household, smart and funny and scared of everything- so much so that he is unable to speak in school at all. A great story for early chapter readers- say second through 4th grade--Alvin is funny and clever and full of interesting fact (glossary at the end!) but also serious and thoughtful with the continuing theme of finding your voice running through. Few book at this reading level with boys as main characters-- I love introducing kids to this series.