Gr 4-7 Celebrating the diversity of Latin American music and dance, the poems in this slim yet richly layered collection present a lyrical narrative told from the perspective of Marisol, who has just celebrated her quinceanera and who is helping her father mind his music store. Readers follow the teen as she greets people and describes their specific musical inclinations with poems that vary in style, tone, and format. The illustrations create a contrast between the characters' "normal" lives and their musical lives. For example, black-and-white pencil drawings introduce the characters through Marisol's voice in simple prose poems. The individuals are described doing ordinary things: shopping, getting off the bus, skateboarding. These pages are followed by cheerful acrylic color illustrations that accompany poems showing Marisol's customers writing songs, playing various instruments, and dancing the mambo and cumbia . Each poem displays a sense of community and celebration. An author's note gives background information about the origins and influences of Latin American music and a glossary offers definitions for the more obscure music and dance terms. A sparkling addition to any library. Rita Meade, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

Durango's ambitious, inventive poetry collection on Latino music and dance covers an enticing subject but ultimately tries to do too much. During the summer, Marisol helps her father run his music store. This store attracts a plethora of Latino characters, many of whom long for the music of their home countries. Marisol's first-person free-verse poem frames 14 one-page poems, each titled after different characters. The book alternates between Marisol's evening at the store and these other poems, which appear in duos and trios until Marisol's own verse on the title mambo ends the collection. VandenBroeck's illustrations also rotate, from black and white for the frame narrative to color (replete with grinning, rosy-cheeked characters) for the individual poems. The shorter verses vary in style and length, including free verse, rhymed and concrete poems. Musical styles range from mariachi to vallenato, while the dances cover everything from the cha-cha-cha [sic] to the tango. Adding to the wave of characters, musical styles and dances are Spanish words with few, if any, textual clues, although the author does discuss each style briefly at the book's end. While a few poems allude to the tumultuous backgrounds of some of the styles, the author's note glosses over colonization and slavery in Latin American history. Despite a few good poems and the much-needed subject matter, the end result lacks cohesion. (author's note, glossary) (Poetry. 8-12)

Starred Review Poetry, music, and dance come together with visually stimulating art and an authentic presentation of diversity in Latin American cultures to make this small book stand large. In lines of simple blank verse, young Marisol tells of accompanying her father to his record store and observing the various customers who shop for the dance music they love: "Papi says you can / read people's souls / by the music / they listen to; / that hearts / fly home / when the music's / just right." Marisol's narrative is illustrated in soft black and grays with elements of block print, sketch pencil, and wash that bring the store and its customers stylishly to life. As the dozen or so visitors cluding a professor from Andean South America who recalls a zampoña (panpipe) player, a preschool teacher who loves to dance the son jaracho from Mexico's Veracruz region, and a young man from the neighborhood who chats about the bossa nova and a certain girl from Ipanema e introduced, they each get a page spread with a poem and a brightly colored pastel portrait that together vibrantly capture the movement and allure of each dance style. Back matter includes pithy descriptions of the different regions and dances evoked in the preceding poems. This lively book will delight many independent readers, dancers, and artists and provide a fun and accessible introduction to Latin American history and its lasting heritage of music and dance.

At the narrators fathers music store, "people come...to buy dreams and memories." Customers stop by and tell their stories (a series of linked free-verse poems), each connecting to a Latin musical style or dance. Illustrations accompanying the girl's narration are in black and white while the visitors' tales appear in vibrant color. A useful author's note is appended.