A review by jenn_geeks_out
Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de la Peña

2.0

I wanted to like this book more and rate it higher. I chose this book for our Amazon box this month because I think it's important that our daughter see and hear different perspectives. So I wanted to really love this book for its ability to introduce Charlotte to diverse characters. And in that purpose, I guess this book succeeded, but the real reason that I buy books is to read and spend time with Charlotte. She couldn't follow the story because of the rambling narrative structure. She said that Carmela is rude because she's antagonizing (a word she knows and loves to use) her brother by sticking out her tongue. Charlotte didn't understand one iota about the wishes and she's generally pretty quick on the uptake.

I wanted to love this book for showing different perspectives but it's hard to do that when the child can't follow the story and so doesn't like to read it. All in all, I can't really recommend it to those who are reading to young ones, but teachers could use the heck out of this book.