In this second book by author Mayra Lazara Dole, lively, determined Chavi sets off on yet another Miami adventure. This time it's a fifteenth birthday party for her buddy Rosario's sister that sends her swooshing through Miami, recruiting children and grownups to help in the planning and cooking. Once again Chavi proves that she can bring an entire community together for a heartfelt special event.
Mayra Lazara Dole's bubbly prose and Tonel's bright, witty watercolors will delight readers who know and love Chavi, as well as those who are discovering this amazing eight-year-old for the first time.
Mayra Lazara Dole was born in Marianao, Cuba, and raised in a Cuban barrio outside Miami. A prolific author, an accomplished and passionate musician, and an advocate for the differently-abled, Mayra has also been a dancer, landscape designer, and hairdresser. This is her second book for Children's Book Press. She lives in Coral Gables, Florida.
Tonel is a visual artist and art critic who was born in Havana, Cuba, where he illustrated several children’s books. His work for grownups has been exhibited in North and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe. He received a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities and a John S. Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship for painting and installation art. He lives and teaches in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"Chavi is a strong, intelligent, and resourceful protagonist. Her ingenious efforts to organize a party not only demonstrate her skills but also a strong sense of her Cuban American neighborhood in Miami. Tonel... offers cartoonlike watercolors full of good-natured, unstoppable enthusiasm... A good choice, both for the heroine’s can-do attitude and because, for a change, adults are seen following the lead of wise children." — Booklist
"Dole's prose, in both English and Spanish, is exuberant, making use of colloquial expressions that reflect the nature of the Cubano neighborhoods of Miami... The use of different type-faces and sounds... makes this story visually interesting and fun to read aloud." — School Library Journal
"This well-done bilingual picture book positively portrays a Latino community. . . And, quite refreshingly, it is the children who lead the adults to the resolution. Best suited for one-on-one sharing, this family portrayal is a must for any library serving a Latino community with a need for primary grade picture books." —BAYVIEWS
". . .the brilliantly colored illustrations reflect the 'barrios' of southern Florida as well as the semi-tropical islands from which so many of its people originated. The importance of a girl's 15th birthday will be obvious to Latinos, but the story provides clues for non-Latinos as well. In addition, the warmth of family and community suffuses the tale and crosses all cultural boundaries." —Kirkus Reviews
