Taking Sides

I love the 2 “Karen” 1 star reviews lol.I grew up in Hawaii and read this story in my 7th grade English class (I’m 27 now) along with the other book by Gary Soto “Pacific Crossing” and have always loved this story the most.I didn’t know a word of Spanish but I was thankful for the dictionary in the back of the book to make out the meanings for the Spanish words used throughout the story.Bought this book as a Christmas gift for my 12 year old basketball lover at home and I can’t wait to gift it to him!& Lastly for the 2 one star reviews, keep an open mind when it comes to stories like this and be willing to learn before you’re so quick to judge. If you never lived a life like the main character bless your hearts. It’s always easy to point fingers and say well I (we) don’t do that or act like that. Yet there are millions of people (white) who act snotty, rude and are a splitting image of the ones in the book on a daily basis with no real reason aside from the fact that they have to share the world with people who are, let’s just say different .

My daughter was assigned this book in her guided reading class. She came home one day and told me that this book has Spanish in it and she didn't understand all of the dialog. She came home a second day upset and told me that this book makes her feel bad and she really did not like reading it. She was clearly upset, so I decided to purchase the book so that I could see for myself. I read the book from beginning to end and yes, I could see how my daughter struggled with keeping up with the dialog in the book in pivotal places in the story because it was in Spanish and it was enough to make worry about her comprehension ability. However, what concerned me more was what it was that my daughter was reading that was making her feel bad. The book makes a lot of jokes at the expense of white people. It tends to make white people look selfish, entitled, materialistic, and stupid. Since my family, including my daughter, is white, it made her feel like she was looked at that way and as a result of this book, stirred some unnecessary tension in her class between certain groups of kids. I think this book does a good job at causing and celebrating divides as opposed to mending them. I had a very long conversation with my daughter's teacher about this book and she apologized to me for not knowing the content ahead of time before assigning it. Even she recognized the book was inappropriate.

Como nuevo , gracias

This Mexican-American story is a great piece of literature. It's easy to read and it gives children of Mexican heritage an engaging story with a character whose traditions they can share in.

I bought this product for my daughter who is dyslexic. It was wonderful and helped her complete a class assignment. As a teacher, I will now add it to my classroom toolbox and help other students who may struggle with reading.

Purchased for a book report homework

I bought a classroom set of Taking Sides and have used it for many years. The book has a good plot; character development is excellent; numerous references to Latino words and culture; and social justice issues.

As described