Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel
López (Confetti Girl, 2009) creates another likable character in Erica “Chia” Montenegro, whose comfortable middle-class life is flipped in an instant when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. Instead of being able to concentrate on cute boys, her friendly clique (the Robins), and the usual middle-school concerns, Chia is thrust into the role of caregiver to her two-year-old brother and feels additional responsibilities at home, where her younger sister also worries about their mother’s prognosis. When the family visits a cuarto de milagros to pray for help, Chia decides to make a big promesa: surely 500 sponsors for a 5K walk to fight cancer would help heal her mother. Chia’s struggle to keep up with friends, housework, and schoolwork is painfully realistic yet tempered with light touches of humor. The many characters in Chia’s life are individually and lovingly drawn; more than just props in Chia’s story, they have concerns, hopes, and dreams of their own. Readers will feel like Chia’s family and friends could do anything as long as they stick together—and they may be right. Grades 5-8. --Erin Downey Howerton