Mae Respicio

Filipino-American sixth-grader Alex Manalo moves with his dad to take over his grandparents' market, along with Alex's aunt Gina and cousins Sammy and Nick. Alex has always loved the market and isn't sure about some of the changes his dad wants to make...and he definitely does NOT want to play soccer, but his dad signs them both up anyway. What Alex does love is making, sharing, and selling slime - but at Golden Valley Middle, Meadow already has a monopoly, so the two get into a Slime War show more for the territory (and get in trouble, because slime isn't allowed at school).

Entrepreneurial Alex loves slime, but what he really wants is friends, not competition. Once he learns more about mean-girl Meadow - she and her mom rely on the food pantry and aren't as well-off as Meadow leads people to believe - he comes up with a way for everyone to win. At home, his Aunt Gina encourages him to talk to his dad, and finally his dad listens.

Each chapter starts with a recipe for a different type of slime.

See also: Falling Short; Origami Yoda, Front Desk

Quotes

It's my big dream, and my family's always said that a dream's basically the same as a plan. (14)

I wish Dad could be happy with the things I like. (25)

Winning doesn't have to look like a shiny trophy or a fancy ribbon the way Dad thinks it should... (67)

p. 125 continuity error with soccer game score

"Sometimes you have to do things that make you feel uncomfortable....If I don't speak up for me, who will?" (Nick to Alex, 234-235)

And just like that we start talking about how we hate it when other people try to force us to do things we don't want, how we don't feel like ourselves when that happens. (238) show less

I like it when a story gives me something that feels kind of unique, in this case, it’s a middle-grade character who’s interested in and adept at woodworking, better still, this character is a girl, not the gender that’s often associated with that type of work or hobby, so I really enjoyed that aspect of this one.

Lou’s imperfect which is certainly my preference for a main character, she makes some mistakes here, breaks her mom’s rules a little too often though at least she isn’t show more doing that for frivilous reasons, and the independence and resilience she shows throughout the story is admirable.

There’s only a hint of romance here, as far as relationships go, the focus is much more on friendships and family and its well-depicted, showing realistic disagreements along with plenty of loving moments, that, along with the Bay Area setting and sprinkling of filipino culture gave this a warm and vibrant sense of community. show less

You know going into this book that it's going to be high emotion, but I really appreciate that one of the gifts that Tatang gives Kaia is the gift of coping strategies. "Where are your feet, Kaia?"; the noticing game; the sunset walks; meditation practice and endless patience. All of these are grounding techniques that allow you to ride the wave of emotion and come out safe on the other side and those are so important right now, when we are all dealing with change and loss. Great embedded show more messages here, in addition to the gift of being part of Kaia's close-knit family for a while. Her Pilipino heritage is strong and her family is full of stories and choices about how they navigate the world. It's a great book about the beauty of every day, and about waking up to what you have before change. show less

Liked the book, but Lou is constantly disregarding her Mom's explicit directions to stop sneaking off and building things in an isolated rural location, and there's not much in the way of consequences until her cousin is injured. The folk dancing is cool. The decision at the end to not move away feels mostly like honoring family, but also like rewarding bratty behavior, so is weirdly unsatisfying.

That said, it's an excellent first book, and I hope to read more by this author. The depiction show more of the vibrant Bay area Filipino community, the kindness and love in Lou's extended, somewhat unusual family, her wonderful talent and passion for building -- all of these things shine and are a great pleasure to read. show less