A Crazy, Mixed-Up Spanglish Day [Paperback]

Marisa Montes (Author), Joe Cepeda (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Get Ready For Gabi

Move over Dora the Explorer. Out of the way Junie B. Gabí está aquí! A school and family-based Little Apple series with a funny, spunky Latina main character--a wonderful first for Scholastic!

With her friends and familia by her side, Gabi* is ready for anything--sort of.

Maritza Gabriela Morales Mercado (Gabi for short) has big problemas. Her worst enemy, Johnny Wiley, is driving her crazy. He makes fun of her name. He picks on her friends. And now Gabi has to spend an entire month working with him on a school project! Gabi is so upset she can't even talk straight. Her English words keep getting jumbled up with her Spanish words. Now she's speaking a crazy mix of both, and no one knows what she's saying! Will Gabi ever make sense again? Or will she be tongue-tied forever?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Launching the Get Ready for Gabi! series, this slim tale introduces Maritza Gabriela Morales Mercado, a third-grader who speaks Spanish at home and English at school. "At home, I'm Gabi. At school, I'm Maritza Morales." Yet she tends to confuse her identities-and mix up the two languages-when she gets "super-stressed." One of Montes's more successful scenes centers on the narrator's playground conversation with her "Little Buddy," a kindergartner who recently moved to California from Nicaragua, and Devin, one of her best friends, who lived in Panama for four years (in Maritza's words, Devin "speaks really good Spanish, and she doesn't want to forget it"). Their exchange allows for a sprinkling of Spanish words, but the author never develops these relationships much beyond that early playground scene. Aside from a surprise visit from Maritza's grandmother (who lives in Puerto Rico), the action primarily focuses on the heroine's attempts to control her temper. Her nemesis, Johnny, a classmate who calls her "Maritza Pizza," teases her relentlessly. As a solution, the girl announces to the class that she prefers to be called Gab¡ (with an accent-so it will not rhyme with Blabby, the nickname with which Johnny promptly saddles her). Cepeda's (What a Truly Cool World) b&w line art adds little to the sketchy proceedings. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Irrepressible and spunky Maritza Gabriela Morales Mercado is introduced in this new series. She has a problem, namely Johnny Wiley, a fellow third grader and all-around pain in the neck. He teases her relentlessly and she has a hard time not reacting, especially when wearing her favorite red boots, which are perfect for dispensing justice. When she is assigned to work with Johnny on a school project, she is so upset and rattled that she begins mixing up Spanish and English words at school and at home, even using Spanglish-much to her mother's dismay. Then her grandmother, uncle, and aunt pop in for a surprise visit, and her grandmother inspires the girl to start using her head, instead of her feet, when dealing with Johnny. Gab' is a feisty protagonist in the tradition of Beverly Cleary's Ramona, and she will appeal to beginning chapter-book readers. Cepeda's pen-and-ink cartoon illustrations are scattered throughout. A glossary of Spanish words is included, and these terms are also explained in context.
Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439475198
• ISBN-13: 978-0439475198
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for ESL classes!, September 9, 2003

By 

Stacy L. Bickell (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Crazy, Mixed-Up Spanglish Day (Paperback)

As an English as a Second Language teacher, I am always looking for easy to read books that address different cultures and languages. This book is perfect. I am now reading the 1st book in the Gabi series to a class, and have 2 other students reading #1 and #2 of the series on their own. I have students on a waiting list to read them next! The kids are thrilled to read books by an author who isn't afraid to throw in a little cultural flavor. This is an excellent book for beginning readers or older children just learning English--believe it or not, I am a middle school teacher!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tough to follow, July 20, 2004

By 

Fourth Grade Teacher - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Crazy, Mixed-Up Spanglish Day (Paperback)

This book was tough to follow and did really go anywhere. I felt like it was a jumbled piece of work that had no storyline or plot.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Special About This Book, July 4, 2004

By 

pc "pc128" (Winter Springs, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Crazy, Mixed-Up Spanglish Day (Paperback)

My son and I read this book together because it was listed as a Sunshine State Book (Florida's recommended reading list) for the 2004-2005 school year. I was very disappointed; the plot was very weak and I felt that the book portrayed non-hispanic people in a negative way. I think the only reason it was picked as a Sunshine State Book was out of political correctness, because the author intermixes Spanish words throughout the book and the main character is Hispanic. The only people portrayed badly in the book are presumably not Hispanic-- a boy named Johnny Wiley and a girl named Sissy Huffer, whose only "fault" the author gives us, is that she has "perfect blonde curls". In the book, the main character is criticized by her mother for speaking English at home. Her mother tells her, "See what happens when you get lazy and use the English word when there's a perfectly good Spanish word?" I can't recommend this book. Besides the underlying anti-Gringo and anti-English messages it sends, it just isn't that good of a book. The basic plot of the book is that the main character (Gabi) has to deal with a boy who teases her at school, but her solution to the problem is rather uninspiring. The only redeeming quality of this book is that it emphasizes the main character working out her problem using her brain rather than her temper. If you want an interesting book to read, pick any of the other books on the Sunshine State reading list -- the rest of them are more creative and have better developed plots.