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Cargando... Shine On, Luz Véliz!por Rebecca Balcárcel
   Ninguno Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro.  Law_Books600 | May 17, 2024 |   by her brilliant, elderly neighbor, she discovers coding. A touching story about family and self-discovery, this wellcrafted tale will appeal to a broad range of readers. BackstoryBooks | Apr 1, 2024 | Plot Summary: Luz is devastated after a soccer injury has disrupted her entire life. Without soccer, she doesn't know who she is, doesn't have a relationship with her soccer coach dad, and doesn't really have any friends. She's tired of being super careful with her knee all the time, and really tired of her dad telling her to be careful. Trying to escape soccer class where she no longer has a job or any attention from the other girls, she walks into a robotics class. Finally, Luz starts to get excited about something else. Thankfully, her neighbor across the street, Mr. Mac, has the knowledge, desire, and equipment to get Luz caught up so she can join her same-age peers in Robotics 2 next year, but that means Luz has to put in a lot of hard work in the last 8-10 weeks of the school year. And there's a giant distraction coming soon: Luz and her family were surprised to learn that Luz has a half-sister living in Guatemala whose mom just died, so now she's coming to live with them. Solana immediately makes friends, has the positive attention of classmates, and takes away all the attention Luz was getting from her parents, good and bad. Will Luz and Solana find a way to make peace at school and at home? Will Luz be able to catch up on robotics and create a showcase project in a short amount of time? Setting: suburban Texas Characters: Luz Veliz - 11 yo, Solana - 13 yo, Luz's half-sister, was living in Guatemala until her mother died, no one in Luz's family knew about her until it was time for her to move to the US to live with them Dad - AKA Emilio, was Luz's soccer coach for a long time and they had a great father/daughter relationship, has been distant and cold and only worried about Luz's knee since she got hurt and Luz feels like he doesn't really see her anymore Mom - AKA Diana, Mr. Mac - AKA Mr. MacLellan, lives across the street, his garage is a workshop full of computers and other building tools and materials Trevor - boy in the robotics club, has a secret project for the showcase, talks easily to Solana but not to Luz Alicia, Lorena, Mariana - girls in the ELL class with Solana Skyler - Luz's closest friend on the soccer team but they didn't really hang out outside of soccer activities Recurring Themes: soccer, family, surprise sister, sharing a room, confidence, identity, friendship Controversial Issues: One of the girls in the ELL class has a relative who was deported and murdered by a Guatemalan gang as soon as he got out of the airport in Guatemala, Solana's mom was also murdered in front of their home when Solana was home Personal Thoughts: Despite some slow parts with description of coding, I loved the friendship and family relationships and the coming of age story. Luz had to redefine who she was and was lucky enough to have plenty of support with her new passion. Genre: realistic fiction Pacing: medium-slow, lots of descriptions of coding slow down the book Characters: Frame: Storyline: Activity: (  ) pigeonlover | Jan 13, 2024 | sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
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Juvenile Fiction.
Juvenile Literature.
HTML:A beautiful coming-of-age story for fans of Front Desk and Merci Suárez Changes Gears, this book celebrates identity, language, heritage, family, and the determination to follow one's own inner light. Have you ever been the best at something . . . only to lose it all? Luz Véliz is a soccer star—or rather, she was a soccer star. With her serious knee injury, it's unlikely she'll be back on the field anytime soon. But without soccer, who is she? Even her dad treats her differently now—like he doesn't know her or, worse, like he doesn't even like her. When Luz discovers she has a knack for coding, it feels like a lifeline to a better self. If she can just ace the May Showcase, she'll not only skip a level in her coding courses and impress Ms. Freeman and intriguing, brilliant Trevor—she'll have her parents cheering her on from the sidelines, just the way she likes it. But something—someone—is about to enter the Vélizes' life. And when Solana arrives, nothing will be the same, ever again. Unforgettable characters, family drama, and dauntless determination illuminate Luz's journey as she summons her inner strength and learns to accept others and embrace the enduring connection of family. Through it all, Luz's light is a constant—a guide for others, a path forward through the dark, and an ineffable celebration of her own eternal self. This is the second novel by Pure Belpré Honor winner Rebecca Balcárcel! FAST-PACED FAMILY DRAMA: Fast-paced, deeply felt, and with all the high highs and low lows of adolescence, this story is downright fun—a page-turner even while it's dealing with serious issues. WHO AM I? This book grapples with a topic so many young people deal with daily: one's relationship to heritage and culture. Luz confronts her ties to her home country, the place of her father's birth, and her family itself in a thoughtful, emotional journey filled with humor, urgency, and grace. CODING IS COOL!: Coding is a language many kids enjoy learning and are encouraged to master. The way this book frames coding and computer programming as an opportunity for communication, bonding, and building fun, practical skills will speak loudly to kids already interested in the field while also resonating with those who aren't. AN ALL-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: This is an important book for its thought-provoking, empathetic look at immigration in the United States and at how the threat of deportation informs the experiences of some of our country's most vulnerable communities. With lyrical prose, deeply felt characters, and a relatable story, Shine On, Luz V&eacaute;liz! adds substantively to our fraught discussion about immigration and opens it to young readers. AUTHOR ON THE RISE: Rebecca Balcárcel won the Pura Belpré Author Honor, which recognizes literature for children or youth that best portrays the Latino cultural experience, for her first book, The Other Half of Happy. She is a beloved presence in the children's literature community and is making her mark as a writer to watch. Perfect for: • Kids who love reading about family and friend drama • Kids who love coding • Parents • Grandparents • Educators • Fans of Meg Medina, Rebecca Stead, and Kelly Yang. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Debates activosNingunoCubiertas populares 
 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (4)
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3
Trigger warnings: Death and murder of relatives and a disappearance of a child in the past, grief and loss depiction, physical injury
Score: Seven out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.
Shine On, Luz Véliz by Rebecca Balcárcel is everything In The Key of Code isn't. Surprisingly, this is only the second book I've read featuring a young protagonist who programs, and this one circled my recommendations until I saw it on a library display shelf and picked it up. When I closed the final page, it was enjoyable.
Did I mention this one got me out of a streak of okay or disappointing books? It starts with Luz Véliz having to stop playing soccer for a while after she injured her knee in the opening pages. She has to find something new to do after that, so she takes on programming (or coding as she calls it) for the first time. I liked many aspects, so I'm unsure where to start, but I'll try, first, I liked the theme of redefining yourself and the message that people can change. I enjoyed reading the characters, especially Luz, since Balcárcel put in the extra effort by developing her character. I appreciated that and the support networks she has. Shine On, Luz Véliz has a subplot where Luz discovers she has a half sister, Solana, adding intrigue and another layer of development, but I would've liked to see more of the side character with autism briefly mentioned for a few pages.
The pacing was engaging enough, with a length of less than 300 pages without being too overwhelming. Unlike In the Key of Code, this novel took time familiarising me with the two ways of programming used, one language on an old Apple computer and another called Scratch (I've heard of that before.) It feels realistic since there is no unfamiliar programming languages or ones that would be too complex to understand for a person aged similarly to Luz, like Java. On the contrary, there are some Spanish phrases. I don't understand Spanish, but adding a glossary would've helped and the conclusion involving a programming competition was worth the wait as I get to see Luz doing what she is most passionate about. Wow.