It’s time to celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day again! I’m reviewing this book here – be sure to head over to the website for lots of book giveaways, hundreds of reviews, and for information about the online party. 

Cruzita and the Mariacheros
by Ashley Granillo

Lerner, April 2, 2024

ISBN 979-8-7656-0850-0

Review copy kindly provided by the publisher through Netgalley.

Cruzita, a second-generation Mexican-American, is more comfortable with the American side of her heritage. She can’t speak Spanish and doesn’t really care for the traditional music her family sometimes plays. She and her best friend Kelli, who is white and lives in a gated neighborhood, share a dream: to go to the big music theme park near them, Encore Island, and win the pop music contest there. She and Kelli have big plans for her to sing one of her favorite 90s songs there. 

But Cruzita and her family are also reeling from the recent loss of Cruzita’s great-uncle, Tio Chuy. Tio Chuy ran the family bakery, now struggling without his baking, and was also the adult that Cruzita felt closest to. Now Cruzita is expected to spend her summer helping out in the bakery instead of having fun – learning to roll tortillas by hand and greeting the Spanish-speaking customers – all while her cousins are off on vacation in Mexico. She’s even more crushed when her frustrated mother takes away her beloved CD player and tablet and grounds her to punish her for her bad attitude – and says they can’t afford to go to Encore Island at all. 

Her Grandmother attempts to come to her rescue by making an arrangement for Cruzita to take free mariachi lessons, using the family violin. Thrown in with a group of much more experienced kids, all of whom can sing the Spanish words to the songs, Cruzita is horrified. Eventually, though, she learns to enjoy the music and makes friends with some of the other kids in the class. Together, they might be able boost her grandmother’s spirits and find a way to save the bakery – if Cruzita can figure out where her loyalties lie. Because Kelli is jealous of Cruzita’s new friends and dismissive of the music – and how can Cruzita give up on her oldest friend? 

I personally have always liked traditional music more than pop music, but I’m guessing that most kids will have a lot of sympathy for Cruzita. There were some tough parts here when Cruzita was getting negative feedback from her parents and aunt and from her best friend at once – but I appreciated her improving her relationship with her parents and building new friendships at the mariachi school. I really enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the baked goods and the fragrant little citrus grove outside the bakery, something I would love to experience in real life. Her struggles trying to fit into Mexican-American culture when she doesn’t speak Spanish were reminiscent of those in Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya. This is a solid choice for kids who dream of stardom, as well as shining a light on the difficulty of growing up between cultures. 

Here are some of my previous MCBD posts:

• Sadiq series by Siman Nuurali for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020
• Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Hears It All for MCBD 2019
• Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018: Underground Railroad
• Lou Lou and Pea and the Mural Mystery for Multicultural Children’s Book Day
• The Above World Trilogy for Multicultural Children’s Book Day
• Lulu and the Duck in the Park
• The Stories Julian Tells (one of my most popular posts ever!)