As the oldest and only girl in her family, the determined narrator not only dreams of having her own room, she finds a way to make it happen. With her mother's permission and her four brothers' help, she transforms a storage closet into a small bedroom. The bilingual first-person text realistically portrays a child who takes charge and makes changes. The art's curved lines and warm colors add to the sense of family unity and security.

K-Gr 3-In the tradition of Elizabeth Starr Hill's Evan's Corner (Puffin, 1993), the nine-year-old protagonist of this story longs for a room of her own in the crowded house she shares with her parents, five brothers, and frequent guests. When the child sets her sights on a small storage closet, the whole family helps to make her dream room a reality. This bilingual book is based on an incident from the author's childhood, and it reads more like a brief autobiographical essay than a picture book. The story lacks tension since the main conflict is resolved quickly, but it does show that a child's need for privacy doesn't preclude being a loving family member. Gonzalez's rich, robust illustrations heighten the otherwise quiet story. Smiling Mexican-American children with rounded body curves and widened facial features march across pages splashed with bold brush strokes of primary colors. A deserving purchase for bilingual and larger picture-book collections.-Denise E. Agosto, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.