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
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1 comment:
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
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