Not a Bean

author: Claudia Guadalupe Martínez illustrator: Laura González 

Charlesbridge, 2019
preschool-grade 3
(Mexican)

On the cover, a young child is astonished at having discovered a Not a Bean clicking and clacking on the desert floor. Above the child’s head, the book title appears to be in motion as well. 

González’s bright, naturalistic digital art, laid out on spacious double-page spreads, reveal the wide expanse of the northern desert mountains of Mexico—and its inhabitants—from early morning to night. It is here that seven young friends, with skin tones that reflect the varying ethnicities of the Mesoamerican peoples, explore the desert and find a bean that is Not a Bean. 

Young readers and listeners will learn that the Not a Bean is actually a small seed pod that combines into larger pods that grow on the yerba de la flecha, a desert shrub—and that each Not a Bean is the home and food source of a caterpillar who burrows into the seedpod.

The text consists of delightfully patterned code-switching in which Spanish words and phrases are accompanied by engaging illustrations that young Spanish-speakers will enjoy and young English-speakers will easily decode. (“At noon tres cascabeles slither from their nests among the rocks. Their tails rattle.”)

As a group of young girls and boys—“siete amigos”—explore “for treasures washed up by the rain,” they find a feather, an old boot, a piece of wood, and “nueve saltarines” (nine jumpers). They draw in the dirt “ocho óvalos” (eight ovals) which they surround to see how many saltarines will jump inside. They poke their saltarines with a stick, and cheer as the jumping beans roll into the ovals.

Days later, the amigos return and poke the Not a Bean with a stick, but it doesn’t jump because it’s busy spinning a cocoon. Finally, 

A majestic polilla burrows out. 

It is not a caterpillar anymore. 

It was never a bean. 

The moth spreads its wings

…and soars into the sky.

González’s limited palette of mostly greens, blues and browns virtually glows as it reflects the textures of the desert and the homes of its inhabitants. 

In addition to counting from one to ten and identifying animals in the Spanish-and-English glossary, the back matter contains an Author’s Note full of scientific and cultural material about Laspeyresia saltitans (female jumping bean moths) for students who want to learn more.

Not-a-Bean is an excellent read-aloud—and a joyous celebration of science, friendship, language-learning, and culture—all in a calm, beautifully illustrated “counting book” for the youngest readers and listeners (and everyone else). 

*Highly recommended for all home, classroom and library collections.  

—Beverly Slapin

(published 3/12/21)

The Smell of Old Lady Perfume

author: Claudia Guadalupe Martínez

Cinco Puntos Press, 2008 

grades 5-up 

Mexican American

By the time I actually started sixth grade, I felt like a burro—a donkey, which was what they called the kids who weren’t too smart. We had missed a little more than a week of school. Nothing was like it was supposed to be. I wasn’t sure how to explain it, except that I felt very small. (p. 66)

As Chela Gonzalez eagerly prepares to enter sixth grade, her strong father—the center of her universe—has had a stroke and her maternal grandmother comes to stay to help take care of the family. She brings with her, among other things, “the smell of old lady perfume.” As Chela’s father has to make major life adjustments in order to recuperate, her mother has to secure employment to support the family. Her having married young and never having had a job before presents a great challenge for the entire family. Because of her father’s illness, Chela is unable to begin school with the rest of her classmates, and her vision of a perfect new school year is quickly thwarted when she finds herself isolated and shunned by the popular girls. Chela does not have any friends, her teacher completely forgets about her, and she cannot even tell her father about it for fear that the stress might make him ill again. Although Chela’s father’s health seems to improve and he is able to build the family a home of their own, soon after they move he has another stroke, this one fatal. And the smell of old lady perfume once again returns to the Gonzalez home. 

Martínez’s debut young adult novel captures the turmoil of a family’s losing its center, and at the same time emphasizes the importance of staying in school. Chela’s parents are immigrants and her father makes clear that his options are limited because he had been unable to go to school, so he wants his children to take advantage of every opportunity. Chela, of course, is an exceptional student and is even in the gifted and talented students program. Education has become central in the Gonzalez family’s life, and being recognized as the smartest girl in school becomes Chela’s main goal. 

The relationship between migration/immigration and education is a significant theme within Latina/o children’s and young adult literature. Stories like Gloria Velasquez’s Juanita Fights the School Board (Arte Público Press, 1994), Luis Rodriguez’s América is Her Name (Curbstone Books, 1998,  http://decoloresreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/america-is-her-name.html), and Jorge Argueta’s Moony Luna / Luna, Lunita, Lunera (Children’s Book Press / Lee & Low, 2005, 2013) capture various struggles that Latina/o children face in school and the role that their parents play in helping students overcome these challenges. Here, Martínez also highlights the parents’ desire to see their children succeed and how education can be a means for many immigrant families to secure that success. 

The Smell of Old Lady Perfume also presents an opportunity for a classroom discussion of how traditional gender roles within Latina/o families impact children and may reveal ways to reconcile or challenge them. Chela’s father’s death shakes her family’s structure because her mom now must secure employment in order for the family to survive, leaving older children with the responsibility of caring for the younger siblings. The reality, which Chela explains, is that they have to take care of themselves. With the father now gone, the boys in the family are told that they must now act as the heads of the family and are forced to hide their emotions.

In The Smell of Old Lady Perfume, Martínez has created an honest and endearing character through Chela Gonzalez. By the end of the story, the school has recognized Chela’s hard work and her family is there to support her. This young Latina has reaped the benefits of education; and despite having lost her father, she shows great strength and determination to succeed—something her father had encouraged and of which he would have been proud. 

Towards the end of the story, Chela visits with her father in the cemetery because she wants to share some news:

I know you would’ve been there if you could’ve. I still wanted you to know, so I came to the cemetery and put down my thirsty roots…. Don’t tease me and make me laugh. I just want to lay here and listen for your heartbeat….We were so happy. Now I’m sad when I’m sad, and sometimes I’m sad when I’m happy. I close my eyes, and you are exactly as you were. I can hear your voice. “Cuando me muera no quiero que me lloren.” (p. 248)

Chela and her father had had a strong relationship, and her great personal loss and the obstacles in dealing with a death in the family will resonate with young adult readers. 

(Note: The publisher has informed us that a Spanish edition will be available by the end of this year.)

*Highly recommended for all home, classroom and library collections.

—Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez, PhD
(published 8/14/17)

Pig Park

author: Claudia Guadalupe Martínez 

Cinco Puntos Press, 2014 

grades 7-up 

Mexican American

Martínez’s Pig Park is a contemporary novel that depicts with affection and a light touch a bustling, though little-known, neighborhood in Chicago and an unholy alliance between business interests and politicians. Ever since the American Lard Company closed in 15-year-old Masi Burciaga’s Pig Park neighborhood of Chicago, times have been tough for the local businesses tucked behind the plant. Masi’s father and grandmother started Burciaga’s Bakery when they came to Chicago from Mexico some 30 years earlier, but now the bakery is losing money. The local councilman, though, has an idea. He has been in contact with a New Mexico businessman, and if all the local businesses can contribute a sizable sum, the businessman will build a Mayan-style pyramid—“La Gran Pirámide”—in Pig Park to attract tourists.

Overlooking the stereotypes implied in this local “attraction,” Pig Park’s business owners sign on, and construction begins. Masi wants to work outside, but she and the other girls are stuck indoors doing clerical work. Although she has imagined a romantic relationship with her best friend’s older brother, she’s also drawn to the mysterious teenage intern who arrives from New Mexico to help. Her mother, who is ill with diabetes, leaves because the stress is too much. Masi misses her mother, as does her father, and they strategize in their own ways to get her back.

But as “La Gran Pirámide” is built and the community’s money runs out, the schemers want more. Here, Loretta, Masi’s mother’s best friend, voices her suspicions to the community:

“I already put in every last cent I had left on this,” Loretta said. “Besides, we don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo. That’s just for people who like to get drunk. Don’t get me started on Day of the Dead. It’s disrespectful to try to make money off of our dead. And where are we supposed to get all of these ‘historical’ artifacts? Are we supposed to make people think they’re real? Are we building a museum now? I just stood here with my mouth shut last time because we are all so desperate, but not this time.”

As individuals and families begin to realize that they’ve been had, they also realize that something must be done. As narrator, Masi is an engaging and resourceful protagonist who wants to do right by her family and community, and sometimes voices what everyone is feeling.

Through Masi’s narration, Martínez shows, rather than tells, how Spanish language is used in a community that is largely bilingual; and since Masi has grown up working in her family’s bakery, her descriptions of people and places often contain food similes and metaphors.

Readers will be caught up in Masi’s story, wondering if and hoping that her mom will return and the bakery and the other local businesses will survive. Things look particularly bleak when Masi finds out that other places that hired the New Mexican businessmen ended up worse off than when they started—and that the beneficiaries of their pain turned out to be outside investors tight with the local politicians. Eventually, Masi prevails on the intern, her father, and the community to take matters into their own hands. A fast-moving page-turner, Pig Park is an excellent example of how young people, through creative action, really can bring about personal and political change. It’s highly recommended.

—Lyn Miller-Lachmann

(published 9/18/16)

An earlier version of this review first appeared in The Pirate Tree (thepiratetree.com). We thank The Pirate Tree for permission.