12 year old Izzy travels to New Mexico and reconnects with her mother's family. She finally discovers the stories of her dead father, and makes new connections there. Summer between 5th and 6th grade, family is Spanish speaking and Catholic, so a certain amount of god talk in here. Also a whole lot of death and grieving, both past and present, although the book is about learning how to move forward. Much baseball. Much writerly ambition. Cat (Frida) who thinks she is a dog. Village full of borderline magical realism, with loads of stories, and people selling things out of their houses and traditional cooking and hot balloons and ghosts. Also, there is a boy-girl kiss (yuck! was actually what I thought when I read that -- I must be channeling my inner 12 yo).

Debut novel, very dreamlike. On the whole, yay for own voices finding their voice. It's pretty great for a debut novel. However, there is a whole lot of irresponsible behavior and weird/missing communication that happens throughout the book. The transitions between one moment and the next could be so jarring that it would knock me into 'say, what now?' headspace. I get that a lot of this book is about healing, is about finding a different way to communicate because grief is too immediate, and about being real about pain and anger and sorrow -- so I honor it for that, even though I found it confusing at best and upsetting at worst. Anyway, I'm going to go sing my not-the-intended-audience song and give it 4 stars for beginnings with great potential. ( )

Lovely story of family, magical realism, culture and finding joy. Happy to hand this charming tale to grades 5-8. ( )

A middle school reader about a young girl Izzy, who is shipped off to spend the summer with her grandmother in New Mexico so her mother can continue her research in Costa Rica. Izzy is drawn into her Latin roots, makes some young friends, has to deal with some trauma as well as discovering why her mother has been so reluctant to discuss her deceased husband. The town storyteller, Socorro, also adds a bit of mystery to the whole story. Enjoyable read. Worthwhile addition to school libraries too. ( )

This is a cute enough story about a girl searching for belonging and the truth about her father. It's a bit loose (not a surprise from a debut novel, especially a middle-grade one), and there are a few editing issues (time inconsistencies, a lie/lay problem). My 11yo liked it but said the bits of Spanish felt shoe-horned in to make the book "educational." I like the suncatcher and wish that the storyteller character had been fleshed out more.

Also, do you think a house cat could carry a baseball in its mouth? I'm having trouble picturing it, but I've not known every house cat. ( )

RGG: Sweet middle-grade story. There is quite a bit going on: a dead, unspoken of father; an absentee mother; a grandmother who knows all the secrets; a New Mexican hispanic community untouched by modernity or socio-economic problems; magical realism. It doesn't all quite hold together. But if you suspend disbelief, it's an enjoyable read. Reading Interest: 10-12