November's Libro del Mes: Dancing Home

Dancing Home

By Alma Flor Ada and Gabriel Zubizarreta

What a joy it is to share with you this month’s LBBC Book of the Month! With all the current rhetoric on what it means to be American and English-only agendas, I found Dancing Home to be such a beautiful lesson with a reaffirming message for our bilingual and bicultural children.

Dancing Home is the story of two cousins, Margie (Margarita) and Lupe. Margie is an acculturated Latina student living in California. She was born in Texas, speaks English, and knows without a doubt that she is American...until her cousin, Lupe, from Mexico comes to live with them. Then Margie begins to question what exactly it means to be “American” and is surprised to discover that embracing another culture and language does not mean you have to abandon the first.

Lupe has arrived in the United States not knowing the language or the people, but she is determined to try her best and has hope that she can find happiness in her new life.  She finds her bilingual education class to be very different from her school back in Mexico, but in it Lupe discovers the tools she needs to succeed academically and socially.

The book does such a great job of destroying stereotypes and judging people based on the way they look or the language they speak.

I like how the story provides the point of view of both girls. At the beginning, Margie has very negative feelings about her Mexican heritage. She doesn’t like to talk about it and has gone to great lengths in order to assimilate into her school by rejecting anything that that reflects the culture.  She is embarrassed by her cousin who doesn’t speak any English and resents the changes at both home and school that Lupe seems to bring with her.

Lupe’s character does a great job of showing how difficult it is for a child – or any person, for that matter – to move to a different country where they don’t know the language.  But her courage and strength come from her love for her culture. And the book ends by showing how beautiful and fortunate these girls are to have both cultures in their lives.

This book is best suited for older children ages 7 and up. Teachers and parents: This is a great book for discussing the value of being bilingual and bicultural. Other topics include immigration, friendship, teasing, assimilation, and the Mexican culture.

If you would like to buy your own copy of Dancing Home, please click here. The book is available in English or Spanish. Or you can follow the link in our sidebar to the LBBC’s on-line store. We have both new and gently used copies available.