Pig Park

September 29, 2014
Fifteen-year-old Masi Burciaga faces her last summer at Pig Park, a once-thriving Chicago neighborhood abandoned when its largest employer moved to China. With her family’s bakery headed for bankruptcy and her parents headed for divorce, Masi and her friends assume the challenge of building an enormous pyramid on the park green. La Gran Pirámide, meant to reignite interest and tourism in the neighborhood, comes with its own cast of characters in the form of an aloof scholar and his daughter, intent on trading the neighborhood’s authenticity for a faux Mexican tourist trap, and Felix, a college intern invested in the community (and in Masi). Martinez (The Smell of Old Lady Perfume) creates an emotional dilemma for Masi, caught between a romantic crush and her family’s struggles, yet the overuse of food metaphors (“My eyelids dropped like ten-pound sacks of flour”) and easily discernible plot twists are distracting. Martinez suggests a fairy-tale undercurrent within the novel, with Masi calling herself “the Cinderella of crumbs,” but the abrupt turnaround of Masi’s neighborhood and family removes her agency and breaks the spell of this realistic novel. Ages 13–up.

Residents of a declining neighborhood band together to turn their economy around by building a tourist attraction.Masi spent her life working in her family's bakery in Pig Park, so named for the lard company that, until outsourcing, provided most of the area's jobs. The multiethnic Chicago neighborhood agrees to the outlandish scheme of building a "Gran Piramide" in their park, as a famous community developer suggests. Masi, at 15, is just happy to have a job outside with her friends, and she is also delighted to meet Felix, a college student from outside the area who shows up to offer help in the neighborhood. In a subplot, Masi's mother leaves for an extended stay with her parents in Texas, where she is diagnosed with diabetes, while her father struggles to keep the bakery going. Masi's anguish over her mother's absence is palpable, though it also distracts somewhat from the pyramid project. The story of a community working together is uplifting, but the project itself occasionally strains credulity, as the teens confidently frame the interior walls and measure for electric switches and plumbing. Martinez uses nicely specific physical details to relate Masi's experiences, and the moments in the bakery seem particularly authentic and are suffused with love.The warm, diverse community setting and the realistic family interactions help overcome the somewhat jumbled plotlines. (Fiction. 12-16) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-Fifteen-year-old Masi Burciaga is facing a summer of uncertainties as her fictitious Chicago neighborhood, Pig Park, sits in the shadow of an abandoned lard company that moved its plant to China. The subsequent decline in population and economic downturn causes local businesses to flounder and Masi's school closes. In desperation, struggling community members agree to build a huge pyramid in their central park to attract tourists. They sell their cars and dig into their savings to contribute to the project. The youth are pressed into heavy labor and clerical work to prepare for its grand opening. An unseen university professor also funds the project, sending his student Felix to help organize community efforts. Later, his colleague Belinda arrives bearing traditional Mexican clothing and folk art with ideas that cause the teens to chafe. She wants them to wear brightly colored, traditional Mexican clothing and sprinkle Spanish in their speech-whether they are of Mexican descent or not. In the midst of it all, Masi's mother suddenly decides to take a "vacation," leaving Masi and her father to run their Mexican bakery alone. The summer is filled with a first crush, an absent parent, fear of losing home and friends, and community engagement. Although the story presents multiple disparate themes with little depth, readers will appreciate its strong characters and identify with the protagonist's teen angst.-Ruth Quiroa, National Louis University, IL

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