Tia Isa Wants A Car Multicultural Literature Selection

Summary:

The book I read this week is TÍA ISA WANTS A CAR.   Meg Medina wrote this book in 2011.  The book is about a young girl who is living with her aunt and uncle in the city.  The aunt wants a car that is big enough for many family members to ride in so that they can get around the city (and other places) not have to take the bus.

Evaluation of genre:

This multicultural book’s genre is contemporary fiction.  Ms. Medina’s story is very plausible.  It is not stated but the backdrop of the story appears to be in Miami, Florida and the little girl’s family lives in Cuba.  Tía Isa wants a car to ride to the beach to get around town so that they do not have to walk everywhere they want to go.  I believe the story is plausible because there are families that have left Cuba to come to America to have a better life. The illustrations throughout the book are beautiful.  The illustrations were done in pencil, watercolor, and ink.  I feel that the illustrator captured the true essence of the book.  The color choices gave the book a “Floridian” feel.  The last page in the book of the beach was beautiful.

Questions to Ask

Have you ever had to walk or catch the bus to get to where you needed to be?

Do you have family that lives in another state or country that you do not get to see often?

Have you ever been to the beach?

What did you like about the story?

What didn't you like about the story?

Activities

The students could create a newspaper. The front page could read TÍA ISA HAS A CAR!!!   There could be an advertisement for “Help Wanted” a person to help stack oranges.  Someone could make an advertisement for sightseeing adventures to the beach.  Someone could write an editorial on how important it is to work together for a common goal.

The second motivational activity would be to have the children write a new ending to the book that involved little girl’s parents and the rest of the family came over from the island and Tía Isa and Tío Andrés will pick them up from the airport and drive them to the beach in the car.

My Thoughts:

This was a really cute book.  I have visited Miami, FL and I think the illustrator did a great job illustrating the beach and parts of town.   I liked how the author placed Spanish words throughout the story and gave the definition i.e. “Un pisicorre” means  “ to take us to the beach”,Tía means aunt, and Tío means uncle, niña means girl, vieja means old, vamos, let’s go, ese mismo means the very one, apúrate means, “hurry now”.  Although Ms. Medina did not have to place the Spanish words in her book, I believe by adding those words gave the book more character.

About the Author:

             Meg Medina is a writer who was born in Cuba. Her parents came to the United States from Cuba in the middle of the Revolution in 1960, unable to speak English and no money.  Her grandparents, aunts and uncles were constantly telling stories about their experiences in Cuba.  Ms. Medina believes that stories help you to remember and make sense of the life you have.  As Ms. Medina writes her books she tries to incorporate part of her life in her stories. Ms. Medina has also written: Praise For The Girl Who Could Silence The Wind (Young Adult), Milagros: Girl From Away (Middle Grade), and Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass (Young Adult).

References

Bookbrowse. (2013). Books by Meg Medina. Retrieved from http://www.bookbrowse.com/books_by_author/index.cfm/author_number/2291/meg-medina

Cullinan, B. & Galda L. & Sipe L. (2010) Literature and the Child. 7^th Ed. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Medina, Meg. (2011). Tia Isa Wants a Car. Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

Medina, M. (2013) Retrieved from http://megmedina.com/booksandreviews/