Marcus Vega doesnt speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya

It is for good reason that Puerto Rico is known as the isla del encanto (isle of enchantment). It is lush, green and full of beautiful friendly people and delicious cuisine. It does have a complicated history though and many books have been written on that subject.

This middle grade novel isn't about any of that however. It's about a kid called Marcus Vega who is bigger than most of his peers and who is sometimes misunderstood by his middle school peers because of this. He isn't a bully however and chooses to use his powers for good, he is quite the entrepreneur. He's also a good big brother to his younger brother Charlie who has special needs. Still, something is missing and when a series of events make his mom decide to carry Marcus and his brother to Puerto Rico this turns out to be the adventure of a lifetime.

For Marcus, number one on his list is getting to meet his dad. He has mixed feelings about this since his dad returned to the island leaving Marcus, his mom and brother back in the US. The fact that Marcus only remembers small things about his father is very frustrating and as he meets various family members on the trip he discovers that there is so much more he didn't know about his dad, his mom and himself.

Pablo Cartaya's familiarity with the island is apparent and he includes various details here and there to give readers a cultural and historical context. Puerto Rico has been in the news a lot recently and people are still getting back to normal after last year's hurricane. Still, as someone who has a lot of friends living on the island I know that Boricuas are resilient people and will keep pushing on.