En casa de Carmen Teresa se reunen muchos familiares de distintos países de América Latina para celebrar el Año Nuevo. Doña Josefa le regala a Carmen Teresa un cuaderno en blanco y todos le sugieren que lo utilice para escribir los recuerdos de infancia de los que están ahí reunidos. Así comienza una original recopilación de historias a las que les acompañan las recetas de los platos favoritos de cada uno. ( )

At a New Year's gathering of Carmen Teresa's extended family, Carmen is given a blank book. Unsure what to write about in her book, her mother suggests she collect the tales from their friends and family. Carmen's relatives take turns relaying stories of their childhood in places such as Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina and Peru. Throughout her relatives' stories, Carmen realizes that all of their stories have a connection to food; ultimately, Carmen decides to fill her new book with the recipes described in her friends and family's memories. ( )

Wonderful for families, perhaps especially those who have Hispanic neighbors. Very quick read. Most of the recipes look delicious and doable, if you've got kids the right age and can spend some time bonding with them in the kitchen. Would also be good in a classroom.

I just can't get terribly excited by it, though. I think part of the problem was that the characters were too superficially drawn - I didn't hear different voices for all the different story-tellers, or even for the 'Main' character. It just wasn't engaging. ( )

I would use this book in a third grade classroom when talking to my students about different Latino cultures. ( )

At a family and friends New Year’s Day party, Carmen Teresa receives a blank book as a gift from a family friend. All the friends and relatives at the party tell her to fill it with stories, and each adult tells a story from their youth in Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Argentina. Latin American recipes of foods mentioned in the stories are included.