Not a Chance

Starred review from February 15, 2013
A Canadian teenager must decide if she knows what's best for her Dominican best friend. Every summer, Dian travels to the small Dominican Republic village of Cucubano with her doctor parents. Now 13, Dian would like to enjoy a "normal Canadian teenager" summer, but they drag her along again nonetheless. Once there, she discovers that her best friend, 14-year-old Aracely, is engaged. Dian cannot understand why Aracely would choose a typical village life over the chance to study to become a doctor in Canada. As a socially aware only child, Dian is a believably mature, introspective narrator whose fears for her friend feel justified. But when her disapproval threatens their friendship, readers will wrestle along with Dian as she decides whether to trust her friend or to be her savior. Dian's growth is succinctly chronicled as she evolves from a child struggling to form an identity apart from her parents ("parents like mine, who expect you to spend every waking moment saving the world") into a confident young woman ("I'm trying to help people, but I'm not raging at the world and refusing to enjoy life....It's about balancing"). Mulder's spare prose neither makes light of a delicate issue nor paints it with a broad brush. Quietly perceptive and provocative. (Fiction. 10-14)

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August 1, 2013

Gr 5-8-Set in present-day Dominican Republic, Not a Chance explores the contrasts between traditional island-culture mores and Western ideals. Dian, a Canadian teen, and her family visit Cucubano, D.R. every summer, but this year she is appalled to learn that her closest friend in the Caribbean town will be married now that she is 15. She and her do-gooder parents had plans to provide Aracely an opportunity for higher education in North America, but Aracely would rather stay near her family. While the two girls are at odds, a friendship develops between Dian and a Haitian boy, a social taboo in this small village. Because of the community's racial prejudice, the teens' social standing and Aracely's future are threatened. The story moves swiftly with animated writing and plenty of dialogue. Readers will empathize with Dian as she exposes her parents' pretensions: "What's the point of having family meetings if no one wants to hear what I have to say?" Though overbearing, they don't just talk about their values, they devote their summers to providing free medical care. The Dominican characters are likewise complex, welcoming the Canadian visitors, but shunning dark-skinned immigrants. Cultural details and Spanish words are incorporated into the text. Complicated issues, including children's rights, Western ethnocentrism, and racism, are all illuminated in this story of cross-cultural friendship and respect. Readers will grow in understanding, along with Dian, who concludes, "It's about balancing the dancing with the doing.-Toby Rajput, National Louis University, Skokie, IL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2013
Grades 6-9 Imagine Dian's shock when her friend Aracely announces marriage plansset for when she turns 15. Dian and her doctor parents had planned for Aracely to immigrate to their Canadian homeland to pursue higher education rather than follow the traditional pattern of early marriage in her impoverished Dominican Republic village. Who would throw away such an opportunity? Aracely's announcement and Dian's reaction quickly estrange the girls from each other. Mulder's provocative tale about a cultural clash avoids heavy didacticism with lively dialogue and carefully nuanced behavior for each of the believable characters. Readers will feel for Dian as she tries to establish her identity, engage her overbearingly politically correct parents, and begin a friendship with a Haitian boy that provokes a racist response from the community. It's a lot of growing up for one summer, but this engaging story intelligently takes on the matter of haves and have-nots. Who really has the better lives?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)