Title:
My Name is Celia/ Me Llamo Celia
Author: Monica Brown
Illustrator: Rafael Lopez
Publisher: Luna
Rising
Genre: Biography
Level: Primary
Number of Pages: 28
Pub. Date: 2004
Summary: This book is
all about the ‘queen of salsa,’ Celia Cruz. The book is written in both Spanish
and English with some musical sayings like ‘Boom, Boom, Boom’ where appropriate.
It has two intro pages that tell about her personality and her strong voice,
then it starts her personal story. She was born in Cuba and was very close to
her family. She would always cook with her mother and sing with her father. Her
papa wanted her to be a school teacher so she studied many subjects, but music
was always her favorite. Her and her brother would travel far so they could
sign in competitions, even though she faced many challenges because of the
color of her skin. She left Cuba during the revolution and went to Mexico, then
to the U.S. where she found her new home in New York. She created a new kind of
music, the salsa, which grew and grew and now lives on all across the world.
Critique: This
biography is a fictional portrait of Celia Cruz. It is written from her
perspective, but the author isn’t her. The facts about her are true and
researched, but there aren’t primary sources for the actual conversations.
There is a note about her and many fact about her life at the end of the story
with an actual picture of her. There aren’t any sources of where this information
came from, but the writing is engaging, colorful and interesting!
Response: I
loved how the author really brought out Celia’s extravagant personality in this
book. You can almost feel the energy she had through the use of sound words,
colorful illustrations and enthusiastic writing. Celia Cruz sounds like an
amazing and talented individual and I would love to hear some of her music!
Assignment:
Celia Singing:
More information about Celia:
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