Dale, Dale, Dale: Una fiesta de números / Hit It, Hit It, Hit It: A Fiesta of Numbers

author: René,Saldaña Jr. 

illustrator: Carolyn Dee Flores

Piñata Books / Arte Público Press, 2014 

preschool-grade 2 

Mexican American

“Dale, Dale, Dale” (“Hit It, Hit It, Hit It”), the traditional piñata-breaking song that Mexican and Mexican American children sing during birthday parties and other celebrations, is the focus of this endearing bilingual counting book.

As excited seven-year-old Mateo, with the help of his parents, prepares the decorations for his birthday fiesta, young readers count the party giveaways. First, there’s una piñata llena de dulces (one piñata filled with candy). There are also cuatro cajas llenas de regalitos (four boxes filled with little gifts), cinco máscaras de la lucha libre (five lucha libre masks), seis trompos (six tops), siete botellitas de burbujas (seven little bottles with bubbles), ocho bolsitas llenas de canicas (eight little bags filled with marbles), nueve carritos (nine little cars) and diez guitarritas (ten little guitars). When Mateo’s 11 cousins arrive, they happily pick up their gifts, play music, take photos, eat cake, and—as the birthday boy takes the first swing at the piñata—sing, “Dale, Dale, Dale.”

Flores’ full-spread illustrations are rendered in Prismacolor colored pencil and most of the images—decorations, presents, toys, birthday cake, and piñata, of course—are on a bright, richly saturated palette of reds, greens, blues, purples and yellows. These are artfully balanced by sharply lined photorealistic images of Mateo, his parents, his cousins—and his puppy. My favorite spread is that of Mateo trying on five lucha libre masks. With all his primos at the party, I hope Mateo gives one of the masks to the exuberant prima in the pink skirt. She definitely looks like she has luchadora potential!

On the pages, idiomatic Spanish precedes the natural English text. Some of the English, especially the song, is an interpretation rather than a direct translation; so both young hablantes and English speakers can go back and forth and practice some of each other’s language.

Dale, Dale, Dale, a festive party celebration in minimal text perfectly paired with vibrant, colorful art, is bright, fun and engaging, and is highly recommended. 

—Beverly Slapin

(published 11/19/15)

Good Long Way // What Can’t Wait

 

Talented young Latinas who struggle to reconcile their dreams with the demands of their families are featured in two new books by Latino authors. In both What Can’t Wait and A Good Long Way the girls’ families expect them to cook, clean, babysit, or contribute to the family income through part-time jobs that encroach on their time for schoolwork and rest. While responsibility to family is important, these strong girls find ways to overcome the restrictions and limitations and to build the foundation for a better life than that of their mothers and sisters.

author: René Saldaña Jr.

Piñata Books / Arte Publico Press, 2010

grades 6-up

Mexican American

Although Jessy is only one of three point of view characters in A Good Long Way, Saldaña weaves her story in with that of the two brothers, Roelito and Beto, Jr. After a fight with his father, Beto, Jr. runs away to Jessy’s house, hoping she’ll take him in. Jessy refuses, fearing the rage of her alcoholic father if her friend is discovered. The next day, Jessy, an honor student, breaks down in class, remembering her own attempts to run away, while Roelito looks for his older brother at school and Beto Jr. goes to work with his father in order to reconcile with him. Saldaña explores a man’s responsibility—a father for his family, and an older brother for his younger brother—and a girl who has to give up responsibility for her dysfunctional family in order to save herself. Recommended.

A Good Long Way takes place over a single 24-hour period in which the precipitating event leads to new insights and changes for all three characters. Jessy’s strength in facing her difficult family situation helps Beto, Jr. to see the good in his own father’s rules for him, while she decides to bide her time until she can go to college and make her own life. Saldaña uses multiple points of view effectively to tell his characters’ stories and differentiate them. He explores a theme about which he is passionate without being preachy, instead letting his characters come to their own conclusions. The ticking clock adds to the tension and urgency, helping to make this short but profound novel a first choice for reluctant readers.

author: Ashley Hope Pérez

Lerner / Carolrohoda, 2011

grades 7-up 

Mexican American

While Jessy looks forward to college, Marisa, the protagonist of What Can’t Wait, sees her academic achievements belittled by her immigrant parents, neither of whom went beyond the sixth grade in school. The youngest of three children, Marisa, a high school senior with dreams of studying engineering at the University of Texas, is expected to meet the needs of everyone else in her family, including her five-year-old niece because older sister Cecilia’s husband is an abusive alcoholic. When Cecilia’s husband is critically injured in a work accident, Marisa’s father promises that their family will be taken care of. No one will go hungry or become homeless, but everyone will have to make huge sacrifices. For her part, Marisa has to take on more hours of work at the supermarket, as well as caring for her niece. Her schoolwork suffers, and she has to make hard choices about the viability of a relationship with the boy she likes. Attending the University of Texas in Austin means abandoning her troubled family altogether, because they live in Houston and she will only be able to visit occasionally on weekends.

Perez sets up a seemingly intractable conflict between a teenage girl’s loyalty to her family and her quest for individual fulfillment and success.  She shows both sides of the values that have kept Marisa’s impoverished family together and with the bare necessities at the same time as those values reduce the options of its most ambitious members. Like A Good Long Way, Perez’s novel doesn’t preach, and it doesn’t offer easy solutions, but it depicts a strong Latina teenager who seizes control of her life in pursuit of a better future for herself and, in the long run, for her family too. Recommended.

—Lyn Miller-Lachmann
(published 4/9/13)