STELLA DIAZ NEVER GIVES UP by Angela Dominguez
Stella Diaz Never Gives Up is the second Stella Diaz book released by Angela Dominguez. Her first being Stella Diaz Has Something to Say, released in 2018 and won the 2019 Sid Fleischman Award. The Sid Fleischman Award is an award in honor of Sid Fleischman who was an American author that often used humor, imagery, and interesting plots. The award is to recognize works that exemplify superlative writing while incorporating the genre of humor.
I am currently reading Stella Diaz Has Something to Say with my third-grade class as our opening chapter read-aloud and have loved seeing the same characters and plot themes in Stella Diaz Never Gives Up! Angela Dominguez was born in New Mexico and moved to Texas during her early school years. She draws from her own experiences, fears, and thoughts in that period of time while also bringing humor and important lessons to today's readers.
Stella Diaz Never Gives Up is told from the perspective of a fourth grade girl with a passion for the ocean and caring for the animals in it as well as making the world a better place. She goes through many relatable struggles to a reader such as nervous about new friendships at camp, being away from her best friend all summer, and afraid her brother Nick didn't like her anymore. Stella overcomes many social/emotional obstacles in the story, despite the main point of her being courageous and confident in raising money to save the oceans as well as campaigning the idea to her neighborhood.
Dominguez's blog: https://www.angeladominguezbooks.com/
Dominguez's older blog (go to this one for details on the characters and settings in Stella Diaz books and who/where they are based on): https://andillustrations.blogspot.com/
Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiuh
This book is an excellent children's picture book that depicts the reality of far away families. The book is written in the form of letters going back and forth between two cousins. One who currently lives in Mexico, and the other in a large city in America (likely based on New York City since that is where Tonatiuh attended college). These diverse settings gives the reader a chance to compare and contrast the two and the lives the boys seem to be living in their differing cities.
Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin is an authentic book to pull upon in comparing the two settings because the author, Duncan Tonatiuh, himself grew up in Mexico and graduated college in New York City. The book contains the comparisons he himself made in the transition and seems almost reflective of the differences and similarities he found.
The book walks through the cousin's ordinary daily routines such as how they get to school, what they play on the playground, what they do in the summer, and what they eat. The illustrations are side-by-side, making the comparison easy to the reader to make of differences in similar situations.
Duncan Tunatiuh's website: http://duncantonatiuh.com/
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