Lety Out Loud

Starred review from January 1, 2019

Gr 3-6-Cervantes returns to the Furry Friends Animal Shelter (the setting of Gaby, Lost and Found) in this new title. Ever since she moved to Kansas from Tlaquepaque, Mexico, Lety Muñoz has spent her summers at school with the other ELL students working to improve her English; but after finishing fifth grade, she's trying something new and attending a summer camp at the animal shelter. She's immediately drawn to both Spike, a dog she wants to adopt, and the job of shelter scribe, the person who writes profiles of the adoptable dogs and cats for the shelter's website. But Hunter also wants the job, and thinks he can do a much better job than Lety, since she's still learning English while he is already reading and writing at a high school level. Encouraged by their friends, the two end up in a secret competition to determine who gets to be the sole scribe. Lety is an admirable protagonist; she faces challenges, tries new things, and finds her voice. The focus on language, writing, and vocabulary will make this a good fit for a classroom read, and the premise and setting should entice young animal lovers. This novel is also a potential "mirror" book for young immigrants to the U.S. and ELL students, and one that can be an empathy-building "sliding glass door" book for other readers. VERDICT Compelling and relatable, this is highly recommended for all middle grade collections.-Kacy Helwick, New Orleans Public Library

Starred review from November 1, 2018
A bilingual girl named Lety volunteers at an animal shelter where she gets drawn into a competition with a boy she finds unkind. Lety signs up to be the animal shelter's scribe, writing biographies for cats and dogs that are up for adoption. It's a tough job--she is an immigrant from Tlaquepaque, Mexico, and she and her best friend are still taking special classes to improve their English. Drawing attention to bilingual learning, the slipperiness of colloquialisms, and the power of dictionaries, Cervantes deftly engages young readers in Lety's predicament through the device of a crabby white boy named Hunter, who challenges her for her position. As the two of them enter into a competition for the job, Lety worries about breaking the rules, encountering prejudice, becoming competent in English, and convincing the shelter's veterinarian that she is the right girl to take home a very special dog. Just as all seems lost, Lety proves her intelligence and willingness to serve by suggesting a solution that benefits immigrants in her community as well as animals in the shelter. At its heart, this is a sweet, entertaining story about a kindhearted girl who has compassion for both animals and people. Young readers will be drawn in by the sweet pet portraits yet they will leave with much more: an empathetic understanding of the immigrant experience in America. A touching story about the power of language, pets, and friendship. (Fiction. 8-12)

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Starred review from December 21, 2018

Gr 3-6-Cervantes returns to the Furry Friends Animal Shelter (the setting of Gaby, Lost and Found) in this new title. Ever since she moved to Kansas from Tlaquepaque, Mexico, Lety Mu�oz has spent her summers at school with the other ELL students working to improve her English; but after finishing fifth grade, she's trying something new and attending a summer camp at the animal shelter. She's immediately drawn to both Spike, a dog she wants to adopt, and the job of shelter scribe, the person who writes profiles of the adoptable dogs and cats for the shelter's website. But Hunter also wants the job, and thinks he can do a much better job than Lety, since she's still learning English while he is already reading and writing at a high school level. Encouraged by their friends, the two end up in a secret competition to determine who gets to be the sole scribe. Lety is an admirable protagonist; she faces challenges, tries new things, and finds her voice. The focus on language, writing, and vocabulary will make this a good fit for a classroom read, and the premise and setting should entice young animal lovers. This novel is also a potential "mirror" book for young immigrants to the U.S. and ELL students, and one that can be an empathy-building "sliding glass door" book for other readers. VERDICT Compelling and relatable, this is highly recommended for all middle grade collections.-Kacy Helwick, New Orleans Public Library