Any Small Goodness: A Novel Of The Barrio - Hardcover

Tony Johnston

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439189365 ISBN 13: 9780439189361

Publisher: Blue Sky Press, 2001

Synopsis

A touching novel filled with love, hope, and fellowship follows a loving Mexican-American family that resides in East L.A. as they immerse themselves in the warmth of their closeknit community.

About this title

About the Author:

TONY JOHNSTON is the award-winning author of more than seventy beloved children's books, including Ten Fat Turkeys. She lives in San Marino, where she grew up.

From Booklist:

Gr. 4-7, younger for reading aloud. In her first novel, popular picture-book author Johnston tells a warm, upbeat story of a Mexican family newly arrived in Los Angeles. The narrator is Arturo Rodriguez, 11, whose present-tense account is filled with Spanish expressions and the physical details of daily life at home, at school, and in the barrio. The first chapter will touch many immigrant kids: the children are tempted to assimilate after their teacher anglicizes their names, but Arturo's abuelita persuades them to hold on to who they are and take their names back. At times Johnston overdoes the local color with too many similes, and some characters are sentimentalized (not that anyone will object to the "angel" librarian). There's a scary gang and a drive-by shooting, but order is restored and the climax is the family celebration of navidad, "warm and sweet and silly, glowing in the candlelight." The small size of the book is inviting, with clear, spacious type and a small illustration at the head of each chapter. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Blue Sky Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0439189365
• ISBN 13: 9780439189361
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 128
• Illustrator: Raul Colon