![]() ![]() 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. The great success of this outing, however, lies in the warmth of the relationship between Clementine and Teacher, whose humane and sympathetic understanding of his admittedly difficult scholar will strike a welcome chord with readers, especially those out-of-sync students and their teachers. Pennypacker and Frazee have this latter-day Ramona down to a T, her distinctive voice and unruly curls happily unblunted by familiarity. ![]() Nagel doesn’t know any of the tricks Teacher did that helped to keep Clementine “in sync” with the classroom, so when Principal Rice asks the children to write letters of nomination to the award committee, Clementine sees her opportunity to sabotage his success. As it is, he’s absent for a week to prepare, and life with his substitute does not go well. ![]() Clementine’s only just “getting the hang of third grade”-she hasn’t been sent to Principal Rice’s office for a whole week-when her world turns upside-down: Her beloved Teacher is a finalist for an Adventures for Teachers award, and if he wins, he’ll be gone for the rest of the year. ![]()
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