Tía Lola, however, knows a language that defies words she quickly charms and befriends all the neighbors. The last thing Miguel wants, as he's trying to fit into a predominantly white community, is a flamboyant aunt who doesn't speak a word of English. When Tía Lola arrives to help the family, Miguel and his hermana, Juanita, have just moved from New York City to Vermont with their recently divorced mother. Renowned Latin American writer Alvarez has created another story about cultural identity, but this time the primary character is 11-year-old Miguel Guzmán. Still, a strong, distinctive tale with art to match. Shannon (who illustrated Lester's How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have?) expertly picks up the flavor-the sisters positively strut through the village, their noses high and one wearing what looks like a spangled angora sweater-but the lips the Rough-Faced Girl sees hanging in the sky, or the muscular, art-deco cloud figure, seem intrusions rather than integral parts of the natural world. Martin's retelling is spare and understated, but never dry the two sisters are richly comic figures, the climax and ending uncontrived yet magically romantic. A powerful invisible being will marry the woman who can prove that she's seen him a poor man's two proud daughters try and fail, but the third, her face and hands scarred from tending the fire, has the understanding to see him everywhere in the world and is lovingly received. An Algonquin Cinderella story, with accomplished but sometimes overliteral illustrations.
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