Mama Had to Work on Christmas [Hardcover]

Carolyn Marsden (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Gloria always spends Christmas with Papi, Mama, and Nana. But this Christmas, Papi is away picking oranges and Mama has to work at the hotel where she is a maid. Gloria is miserable when Mama makes her go with her-until they get to the hotel with its lavish decorations and food piled high on the tables. What a magical place to spend Christmas! But then Mama explains that these lovely things are only for the guests: Gloria is to stay in the kitchen where nobody will see her. From her hiding spot, Gloria watches as a girl her age eats a fancy meal with her family. How can one girl have so much while another has so little?

How Gloria moves from disappointment to understanding makes for a beautiful story that honors the true spirit of the Christmas season.

Illustrations by Robert Casilla.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-When nine-year-old Gloria's mama has to work at a fancy hotel on Christmas, the girl must spend the day there as well, since Papi is away picking oranges. After work, the resentful child accompanies her mother across the border into Mexico, where her grandmother lives in a ramshackle hut. She sulks until the enormous wellspring of love she receives from Mama and Nana, not to mention the homemade gifts, reminds her of how much she really has, despite her family's poverty. This account of one girl's Christmas could have been saccharine or preachy, but the tone is matter-of-fact and engaging, and Gloria is an appealing character.-E. M.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-5. Gloria hates it when she has to go with her mother to work on Christmas Day in the fancy hotel where Mama has a job cleaning the bathrooms. At first Gloria is dazzled by the hotel luxury, but she's warned not to touch the buffet feast, and she's ashamed when a rich kid pities her as a "have-not." She's still upset after work when she and Mama join Nana in her rough cardboard house, which has no electricity, just over the border in Mexico. But, as they celebrate Feliz Navidad together, and Gloria opens her wonderful gift from Papa (who's a "migrant," away working in the fields on the holiday), she realizes that the love in her family makes her rich. The neat uplifting story doesn't have the wrenching beauty of Francisco Jimenez's autobiographical The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1997), which is for older readers, but this small chapter-book with moving, realistic black-and-white illustrations does bring home the painful truth about class differences, a subject seldom addressed in children's books. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (September 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670036358
• ISBN-13: 978-0670036356
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,464,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carolyn Marsden grew up in Mexico City and Southern California. Although she wrote for adults for many years, she began to write for children after the birth of her daughters. She attended Vermont College and earned an MFA in Writing for Children. Her first book, The Gold-Threaded Dress, published by Candlewick, was a Booklist Top Ten Youth Novel of 2002. Her second novel, Silk Umbrellas, was a Texas Bluebonnet nominee and Booklist Top Ten Art Novel of 2003. Since then, Carolyn has published several more award-winning middle grade chapter books with Candlewick and Viking, almost all with multicultural themes. The Buddha's Diamonds was a Southern California Booksellers Association finalist and a Booklist Top Ten Religion Novel of 2008. Sahwira: An African Friendship, is set in what is now Zimbabwe. Take Me With You was a Booklist Top Ten Historical Novel of 2010 and a Booklist Top Ten Religious Novel of 2010. Carolyn's latest book, Starfields (Candlewick 2011), touches on the 2012 prophesy. Her next book, The White Zone, is set in contemporary Iraq and will be released by Carolrhoda in February 2012. Carolyn lives with her Thai husband and two half-Thai daughters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heartwarming Christmas Story of Two Cultures, April 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Mama Had to Work on Christmas (Hardcover)

Carolyn Marsden gets into the skin of her protagonist, Gloria, when on Christmas she must tag along with her mother to her job at the hotel where a sumptuous feast is arrayed in the hotel dining room while Gloria observes the contrast of preparation for others in the kitchen. When she accidentally interacts with a child of one of the guests in the dining room, they find they giggle at the same things until cut short by the girl's parent. Gloria relays to her doll her frustration and sadness that her family's Christmas must be delayed. But finally arriving at her grandmother's and discovering a special gift her Papi, also working on Christmas, had planned for her, Gloria savors their Feliz Navidad at last.