Cartaya shines as both author and reader of the audio edition of his middle grade tale about the romantic pursuits and family life of 13-year-old Arturo Zamora. It's summer in Miami and the young protagonist spends his days hanging with his abuela and cousins at his mother's Cuban restaurant, playing basketball, and writing poetry to impress his love interest Carmen, a family friend and fellow poetry enthusiast. Cartaya nails the voices of various characters in Arturo's extended family, all of whom are trying to save the family restaurant from a slippery, narcissistic property developer. Particularly entertaining is the over-the-top, passionate aunt who is prone to hysterical and unintentionally comical outbursts. Throughout, Cartaya's performance gives voice to the sights and sounds of Miami, slipping comfortably back and forth between English and Spanish. Listeners will be glad that the end of the audio book, like the print version, features several key family recipes and instructive but funny details about how to bring those dishes to life. Ages 10-up. A Viking hardcover. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

*Starred Review* Arturo is looking forward to a Miami summer filled with friends, ice cream, and working at his family's popular restaurant, La Cocina de la Isla, but his plans get derailed from the start. Carmen, his mother's goddaughter, comes to visit, and Arturo doesn't understand why his stomach can't settle down around her. His job at the restaurant is harder than he thought, and worst of all, his family's plan to expand into an adjacent empty lot seems hopeless when flashy real-estate developer Wilfrido Pipo comes to town with plans of his own. Arturo hopes the community his abuela and abuelo loved for so long will support them, and with the help of his family, friends, and the work of Cuban poet and revolutionary hero José Martí, Arturo finds the strength to fight for what he believes in. Cartaya's lively debut, filled with kind, dynamic characters and interspersed with letters, poems, and Twitter messages, offers a timely tale of a community steeped in tradition and multiculturalism, working together against encroaching gentrification, and Arturo's inviting first-person narrative is the perfect entry point for middle-grade readers. Unitalicized Spanish phrases appear throughout, always with enough context clues that non-Spanish speakers will have no trouble following along. At turns funny, beautiful, and heartbreaking, this engrossing story will get kids cheering for triumphant, relatable Arturo and his powerful connections to family, tradition, and community.--Paz, Selenia Copyright 2017 Booklist

Gr 5-8-Arturo Zamora is determined to save his family's Cuban American restaurant, the decades-old hub of their Miami neighborhood, from an unscrupulous developer who seems to have bought city council approval for his land grab. Cartaya treats this subject with a mixture of humor and heartfelt nostalgia. The warmth and solidarity of Arturo's family and their deep relationships within their community are palpable. Arturo's confusion as he experiences his first pains of love for their summer houseguest leavens the sense of impending doom. Eventually, the neighborhood pulls itself together to preserve La Cocina de la Isla. Sprinkling his writing with Spanish, Cartaya incorporates mouthwatering descriptions of Cuban cuisine, the poetry of José Martí, and the general wackiness of young teens' friendships effortlessly into his narrative. VERDICT Touching and funny, this is an excellent middle grade novel about Cuban American life. For most collections.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.