Monday, October 10, 2016

Nothing Up My Sleeve by Diana Lopez - OPTIONAL

Lopez, Diana Nothing Up My Sleeve, 385 pages.  Little Brown, 2016.  $17.  Content: G. 

Dominic, Loop, and Z are always competing against each other.  No competition is too small for the trio to vie for top dog.  When a new magic shop opens in their town, they are more than ready to learn tricks and illusions all summer, not only to show up each other, but also to best the proprietor’s daughter – a stuck-up know-it-all who dislike the friends intensely.  Things do not go well over the course of the summer and the friends are barely speaking to each other up until the big contest.  If they can’t hammer out their differences, none of them have a chance of succeeding. 

This is the first book I have ever read that is set in Hispanic culture that isn’t an issues based narrative.  It is, instead, just a book about a group of kids learning magic who happen to be Hispanic.  It was a very nice change, because sometimes we only read about culture through the lens of certain issues.  That being said – the boys are highly amusing and their group dynamic is fun to watch.  I don’t know how popular the topic of magic actually is with elementary or middle grade students.

EL, MS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

1 comment:

Ms. Yingling said...

Neil Patrick Harris has a new book coming out in 2017 that deals with magic. I wonder if the topic will be more popular after that. My Dorko the Magnificent is a hard sell, so I may pass on this one, but it was pretty good. Have you nominated books for the Cybils awards? Everyone on your team can nominate- you don't have to have your own blog! http://www.cybils.com/2016/10/and-go-cybils-nominations-are-open.html