Red Hot Salsa

This book was a pretty fast read. Unlike The Poet Slave of Cuba, Red Hot Salsa used a variety of poems to give a clear picture of how life is for young children of Latin decent. I thought it was neat how they placed the poems in English first and then in Spanish. The poems also had a mixture of English and Spanish words which caused me to get lost in the language, but I was able to determine some words by placing them in the context. This a great book for Bilingual or ESL students who are learning the English language because they have the poems in both English and Spanish to help learn the words.
Each poem does a great job telling readers about the culture, any judgements, emotions, and challenges faced by children from a different culture. The poem “I Am Who I Am, So What” (pp.16-17) explains the character’s mood of being a Latino in the United States very well. The poet uses the two phrases, “not Mexican enough, not American enough” to help the readers feel the character’s sense that they do not belong to either country. Do any of today’s students feel that they are not accepted by people or belong to those of their own kind as well as their friends? Are they judged for being who they are?I like how many poems are just nice poems about the world and experiences everyone deals with, such as the poem about eyes on pages 56-57 and the short poem called “Upon Knowing You” on page 70. It is excellent how they have a glossary in the back to help readers understand the Spanish words used in each poem. One question, though. What is up with the poem on page 60?

The Poet Slave of Cuba

This is the first time I have read a book told through poems. I would say it was a little hard but written well. Poems are such a beautiful form to explain situations such as slavery. You can’t help but get caught up in words and feel what each character is going through in this book. The treatment and emotions of Juan, his mom, etc. are explained perfectly in each poem. I found it interesting that each poem is titled with the character’s name who is “talking.” I did get lost in some of the language of the poems, though.
At the bottom of page 13 and top of page 14, Dona Beatriz describes Juan’s duckling behavior and people’s reactions to him thinking and acting like Dona is his mother since he rarely knows his own. Can any student relate to not knowing their own parents? Do they find others to take their mother’s or father’s place? Concerns about their family occur back and forth between Juan, his dad, and his mom. Juan’s mother sees how her son is being treated and witnesses him getting whipped (pages 72-73). I could not imagine having to watch as a family member is being abused and injured.
What I found interesting is how the author tells you what is going on without directly saying it. The author uses many descriptive words and phrases to represent thoughts and emotions. For example, on page 42-43, the author does a great job at describing Juan being whipped without exactly telling us what is happening. And such great words with strong meaning behind them are used to help the reader feel the evil nature of La Marquesa de Prado Ameno on page 40 and 41. The words are strong and full of anger. This happens throughout the book in order to give the read a good image of how her character is.
Juan is written as such a strong character, proving to his owner that nothing can make him fall. This is great for young adults, showing them that no matter what kind of situation you are in, you can be confident and stand up for yourself (La Marquesa de Prado Ameno’s poem pages 56-57).You can see how the poems get more and more emotional as the story progresses and also sense Juan’s dream of being set free. And in the end, he escapes!