The Epic fail of Arturo Zamora is a very thought provoking and culturally stimulating book that is great for young readers. Even as an adult I enjoyed the story and made personal connections with the topics in many diverse ways. This book introduces us to the story of the fulfillment of a dream by an immigrant family from Cuba, through the eyes of their grandchildren. The plot takes us through past, present, and future, and deals with contemporary issues that we can all relate to. Arturo is the main protagonist in the book, and through him we travel through time and space into the mind of his grandfather. The underlying theme dealt with in this book is “love and faith”, that links us to the words of Jose Marti, a very famous and beloved poet from Cuba.
The plot is set in a modern American city in Florida, and through the eyes of the children in the book we learn of their struggles with culture and assimilation into American society. It also leads us through the teenage mind and how it deals with those critical years of the sparks of young love. It carries into the modern issue of gentrification and provides us with a very good example of how to combat its effects. Family and family relationships are present in the story as well as friendships and societal relationships. Business and business practices are considered, and the narrative provides a very healthy way to examine the need for independent entrepreneurial thinking that many immigrant families have. The theme of young love is addressed as well as the respect for elders, living and passed. We are introduced to the simple poems of Jose Marti whose words guide the “love and faith” theme that undergird the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone and I will surely be using it with my students in my Spanish classes. This book can help to introduce my students to bilingualism and code-switching, and also to the cultural aspects of the diverse histories of the Cuban people in particular but to the Latin American people in general. This is a must read.
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