Lalo Lespérance Never Forgot

Diederich, Phillippe. Lalo Lespérance Never Forgot
September 12, 2023 by Dutton Books for Young Reader
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

It's the beginning of the pandemic, and Lalo's family has worked out a way to deal with the lockdown and the closing of in person school. Lalo and his brother Claudio go to the apartment of their friends Lupe and Vivi so that their grandmother, Alita, can supervise everyone. Claudio attends virtual classes on his phone, Lalo and Vivi share a school issued computer, and Lupe stays in her room, since she doesn't like the bossy attitude of her grandmother. Both families' mothers work in health care, so are tired, worried, and busy. Lalo struggles with memory issues, and while he normally gets accomodations at school, his teachers haven't quite figured out how to help him online. Since he has plenty of time, he has a side project-- he's determined that he will fix Claudio's PlayStation and find a way to attach wires to his head, so that he can record his memories and play them back. His mother even orders a soldering kit for him, but the project doesn't go as planned.  Lalo's mother has Mexican ancestry, and his father was Haitian, and Alita (short for abuelita) often pines for the Mexico of her youth. Claudio disregards the Haitian part of his background for a variety of reasons that are discussed. Vivi, and other children in the neighborhood, are concerned about a van that has been parked outside their apartment building, and figure that the shadowy figure they see there occasionally is someone who steals children. They spend a lot of time spying on him, and try to lure him out by leaving mangos outside his door. Lalo finds a storage space in the building, and when he tries to use an old radio, thinks that it allows him to remember things from his past. His father died when he was small, and he has trouble remembering him; Claudio doesn't want to talk about him. As the lockdown continues, a neighbor becomes ill and is hospitalized, Lalo befriends Lupe and talks to her about the past, and secrets surrounding his father's death become more memorable. When Alita also contracts COVID, Lalo's "bubble" has to come together to support each other, and even the shadowy figure in the van is drawn into the community.

Strengths: Because I had my elderly parents, I didn't really see anyone in person during the early days of the pandemic, so it was very interesting to read about a "bubble" in a Florida apartment building. It made perfect sense for the grandmother to watch her grandkids and Lalo and Claudio; I talked to a LOT of grandparents who were struggling with online learning during this time! The depictions of online schooling, difficulties in getting to stores, the parents working in medical fields, and even neighbors getting sick were all quite good. Lalo's memory issues were a little vague, but we find out why later in the book. Even the children's obsession with the man in the van seemed accurate; when you can't go anywhere or do anything, it's easy to focus on something in your environment that seems off. I don't want to give away the family secret, but it is on trend with sociopolitical commentray. 
Weaknesses: While it made sense for the children to be obsessed with the man in the van, I was a little surprised that Alita didn't just go bang on his door and ask what was up. Maybe the adults knew but just didn't tell the children? Another resident is asked to move his disabled vehicle that he is fixing up, so the landlord clearly is paying attention, adding to my confusion about why this wasn't addressed. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a neighborhood story set in Florida, like Cartaya's The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora  or pandemic tales like Yang's New From Here or Torres' The Do-Over. 

Leahy, Elisa Stone. Tethered to Other Stars
October 3, 2023 by Quill Tree
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Wendy and Tom Toledo's family have moved from Melborn, where ICE was conducting random raids, to Columbus, Ohio. They've bought a very run down house that their father hopes to renovate. Wendy is okay with the move, since she can tell how upset her parents were, and she's glad to be going to Leopold Preparatory School, which is specifically for able and talented students. They even partner with the planetarium at Ohio State University. Since Wendy is passionate about astronomy, she is glad to attend. She meets several nice kids there, including Etta, whose mother is the pastor of the church next door to the Toledos, K.K. who has a background in student government, and Mal, who takes the time to explain the other kids to Wendy. She also meets Brett, whom she thinks is kind of cute. Other students, like Avery and B.J., are very unkind and seem to have parents who do not like that the school has become more diverse. At home, Dulce Toledo struggles with getting the house cleaned and repaired, and Wendy realizes that while her mother used to go out to work, she has been staying at home more. She is also very concerned that the family does not get involved with Etta's church. Luz, a woman who has been struggling with immigration for years, has taken sanctuary in the church because the ICE agents are trying to remove her. Etta seems to find this exciting, but Etta finds pretty much EVERYTHING exciting. (Don't we all know those middle school students who are "a little much"?) Wendy is perfectly happy to ignore the events in her neighborhood, but her brother Tom isn't. He even quits the cross country team to get involved in issues of social justice. Wendy does help K.K. run for student council, and her new friend group is dismayed at how K.K. is treated when her campaign poster is defaced. When Etta and Wendy find some papers in Wendy's new attic bedroom, Wendy starts to have some questions about her parents' background. She was always told that her father was born in South Carolina, and he very vehemently tells the family (around the mandatory dinner table, which I loved!) that Luz' immigration status is of no interest to them at all because they "did things the right way". Wendy has to deal with a host of microaggressions from Brett and his friends, and is not happy when he handles a project they are working on in a particularly inappropriate way. WHen her family's past comes to light, however, Wendy has bigger issues to worry about. 

Strengths: Wendy is an engaging character who has many interests. While the main plot of the story revolves around issues of immigration status, I love that it is well grounded in Wendy's daily life of going to school, making friends, and dealing with a crush. Too often, middle school books ignore the details of school life in favor of larger issues. This makes sense, but it makes a book so much better when my students can identify with Wendy's crush, or her science fair project. It's easier for them to be empathetic about her larger problems when they know they share her smaller ones. The Toledos are a close knit family, albeit one hiding some big secrets. Tom is a great older brother, and his interests are somewhat different from Wendy's, which makes sense because he is older. I get the feeling that Wendy has been pretty unaware of a lot of sociopolitical issues up until the family moves to Ohio, which makes perfect sense because she is just entering 7th grade. The story moves along quickly, and gets more and more interesting! 

Weaknesses: I loved that Mamá has "good" Tupperware as well as yogurt and sour cream containers that she uses around home, but I have a 35 year margarine container that hasn't lost any of the lettering on the side. What is Mamá DOING with these containers? While the parents speak Spanish, and all of Wendy's classmates' and teachers' cultural ties are clearly mentioned (Mal has a Korean grandmother, the art teacher is Black, Etta is gay and vocal about it), Wendy's family's background is skirted around. There are reasons for this, but I have a lot of students, especially Latine ones, who want books with characters from very specific countries. If I can show them the country of interest on the book flap, they get very excited. Not a weakness as much as a missed opportunity. (Her father is from el Salvador and her mother is from Guatemala.)
What I really think: This is blurbed as being similar to Cisneros' Efrén Divided and Ramee's A Good Kind of Trouble, which for once is pretty accurate! I would also recommend this to readers who enjoyed Cervantes' Gaby, Lost and Found, Rose's Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco, Sloan's The Elephant in the Room and Hitchcock and Senzai's Flying Over Water.

If there is actually a "Rooville" in Columbus, I don't know about it, but there was definitely a major case involving a woman taking sanctuary in a local church.