El Lector

January 30, 2006
Durbin (Song of Sampo Lake) makes Depression-era Florida come alive with poetic details, in this novel starring 13-year-old Bella, who longs to be a lector and to tell stories with the same exuberance as her grandfather. She dreams that one day her friends and the tobacco rollers at the El Paraíso cigar factory in Ybor City will hang on her every word. But the world is in flux: employers threaten to cut workers' pay as machines begin to replace human labor, radios begin to overshadow the role of the lectors, and racial tensions only escalate matters. Occasionally, the novel founders under the weight of so much historical material, but the strong female heroine will carry the tale for many readers. And the lyrical rhythm Durbin injects into the narrative brings Bella's era to life: "Ybor lived and breathed in the clink of milk bottles, the clump of the bread man's feet as he stuck his fresh loaf of Cuban bread on the nail beside the front door, and the sharp pick of the iceman chipping a block to fit the icebox." Ages 10-up.

February 1, 2006
Gr 5-8 -Bella Lorente, 13, dreams of becoming "el lector" like her grandfather, reading literature and poetry to the Spanish-speaking cigar-factory workers of Ybor City, FL. However, the Depression, the conflict between workers and owners, and racial tensions alter her plans when her Aunt Lola is arrested for participating in a union meeting. Bella -s extended family struggle to free the woman and to seek community in a divided city. Durbin succeeds admirably in creating an accessible world rich in detail. While most children will not know much about "lectores", cigar rolling, and Depression-era Spanish Floridian culture, Durbin explains each one clearly, providing tidy translations for all of the Spanish used. In one particularly evocative passage, the wind brings smells from fresh-baked bread, guava, or damp tobacco, depending on its orientation. However, this richly envisioned world sometimes eclipses the rising action of the labor struggles and slows the book -s pacing, weighing it down with numerous subsidiary plot threads. At certain points, there is an overload of information as the author jumps from labor troubles to Depression-era unemployment to Babe Ruth to 1930s fashions and films. That said, "El Lector" is better-than-average historical fiction with a strong female protagonist. Give it to fans of Pam Muñ oz Ryan -s "Becoming Naomi Leó n" (Scholastic, 2004) as a read-alike." -Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 6, 2006
Durbin (Song of Sampo Lake) makes Depression-era Florida come alive with poetic details, in this novel starring 13-year-old Bella, who longs to be a lector and to tell stories with the same exuberance as her grandfather. She dreams that one day her friends and the tobacco rollers at the El Paraíso cigar factory in Ybor City will hang on her every word. But the world is in flux: employers threaten to cut workers' pay as machines begin to replace human labor, radios begin to overshadow the role of the lectors, and racial tensions only escalate matters. Occasionally, the novel founders under the weight of so much historical material, but the strong female heroine will carry the tale for many readers. And the lyrical rhythm Durbin injects into the narrative brings Bella's era to life: "Ybor lived and breathed in the clink of milk bottles, the clump of the bread man's feet as he stuck his fresh loaf of Cuban bread on the nail beside the front door, and the sharp pick of the iceman chipping a block to fit the icebox." Ages 10-up.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2006
Gr. 4-6. In Depression-era Ybor City, Florida, households receive daily deliveries of milk and fresh Cuban bread, and " lectores " such as Bella's grandfather entertain cigar workers with readings from literature and politics. But as modern changes reach the factory town, wary officials begin to replace " lector " podiums" " with radios ("Owners . . . want workers entertained, not enlightened"), and union unrest is stirred by the arrival of machines. Having set aside dreams of proving that "women can do anything they want" to earn money as a tobacco laborer, 13-year-old Bella witnesses a violently quashed workers' protest, leading to her aunt Lola's imprisonment and a crippling factory shutdown. The vibrant Ybor City atmosphere and Bella's bond with her dignified grandfather are major components of this purposeful narrative, but it is Bella's integrity that will appeal the most to readers, notwithstanding the forced quality of her concluding acts of heroism. Although this may ultimately garner mostly regional audiences, try it as a counterpoint to stories about other young eyewitnesses to labor conflicts, such as Katherine Paterson's " Lyddie" (1991)" . (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)