On one of the hottest weeks of the summer in Caliente, Texas, best friends Elena and Alma open competing snow-cone stands across the street from each other. As business booms and wanes, the competition gets stronger, as do the sales pitches and incentives. Extravagant decorations, puppet shows and folk dancing in traditional costume cause ever more customers to crisscross the street, until both ice machines simultaneously malfunction, pouring out colored ice shavings until a slushy rainbow ribbon of the stuff tumbles down the street, encouraging everyone to "[cascade] down the dazzling icy mound" and leaving Elena and Alma to dissolve their rivalry and renew their friendship. The full-color paintings are mostly realistic, featuring appealing, if stiff, protagonists; the rainbow-colored snow-cone slide makes for a startling and unconvincing intrusion. Lacking the charm of Strega Nona and her magical spaghetti pot, this summery, bilingual story jars with the quick flight of fancy. While the themes of friendly rivalry and work-made-fun are worthwhile, the odd deus ex machina mystifies more than it delights. (Picture book. 5-7)

Gr 1-3 The residents of Caliente, TX, can't stay cool in the sweltering summer heat even when drinking lemonade by the gallon and pouring buckets of water over their heads. Elena, who is joined by her mother on the front porch, comes up with a fun, profitable idea to deal with the situationselling raspas , or snow cones. Before long, her successful business gets the attention of her best friend, Alma, who sets up a stand of her own. The girls compete, or "battle," to be the best on the block by employing new strategies and adding touches such as Mexican paper flowers or syrup flavors like coconut or mango, and entertainment like puppet shows or folkloric dances. In the midst of all the competitiveness, the girls' snow-cone machines malfunction and they realize how much their friendship matters. Gambino's vibrant acrylic artwork shows neighborhood scenes and captures the bold colors of the snow-cone syrups and the girls' stands. Learning that true friendship can be more important than success is an elemental concept for young children to understand. Rhonda Jeffers, Coweta Public Library System, Newnan, GA