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Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel
It's summer before eighth grade, and Erica "Chia" Montenegro is feeling so many things that she needs a mood ring to keep track of her emotions. She's happy when she hangs out with her best friends, the Robins. She's jealous that her genius little sister skipped two grades. And she's passionate about the crushes on her Boyfriend Wish list. And when Erica's mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, she feels worried and doesn't know what she can do to help.
When her family visits a cuarto de milagros , a miracle room in a famous church, Erica decides to make a promesa to God in exchange for her mom's health. As her mom gets sicker, Erica quickly learns that juggling family, friends, school, and fulfilling a promesa is stressful, but with a little bit of hope and a lot of love, she just might be able to figure it out.
Confetti Girl author Diana Lopez returns with this sweet, funny, and utterly honest story about being a girl in a world full of good (and bad) surprises.
When her family visits a cuarto de milagros , a miracle room in a famous church, Erica decides to make a promesa to God in exchange for her mom's health. As her mom gets sicker, Erica quickly learns that juggling family, friends, school, and fulfilling a promesa is stressful, but with a little bit of hope and a lot of love, she just might be able to figure it out.
Confetti Girl author Diana Lopez returns with this sweet, funny, and utterly honest story about being a girl in a world full of good (and bad) surprises.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
115 people are currently reading
916 people want to read
About the author
Diana López
58 books79 followersDiana López is the author of numerous middle grade novels, including Confetti Girl and Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel. She also wrote the middle grade adaptation of the Disney/Pixar film Coco. Diana is a lifelong resident of Corpus Christi, Texas and works with various nonprofits to mentor new writers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 203 reviews
April 8, 2024
➳ 3 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
this was ok. nothing memorable but it was cute and it was quick and easy. the characters felt a little forced and like the author tried to make them sound hip and cool and kinda failed. but it was fun and i liked the sister relationship and i don’t regret reading it ✨
୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆
this was ok. nothing memorable but it was cute and it was quick and easy. the characters felt a little forced and like the author tried to make them sound hip and cool and kinda failed. but it was fun and i liked the sister relationship and i don’t regret reading it ✨
୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆
June 28, 2014
This book is definitely worth 5 stars. I learned so much about cancer, and other subjects from Carmen's rambling, and the mother.
This book is about a girl with an average life. She's an eighth grader, not popular, but not unpopular. She has the typical worries of an eighth grade girl- family, friends, boys, and clothes.
Erica's life is turned up-side-down when her mother comes home with 9 bikinis. Her mom can e strange sometimes, so she doesn't think much of it. But once at the dinner table, her dad begins treating her mom like an invalid. Scared by their unusual fighting, they begin to wonder what's wrong. That's when it comes out that Erica's mom has breast cancer.
I personally couldn't put this book down. Erica's inspiring journey to reach a goal she set to help her mom in a symbolic way, constantly giving help without being asked, and dealing with all her emotions without anyone to talk to, it made the story much more real than other YA's and MSes. Most others have the main character dump drama down seemingly effortlessly. Im only disappointed with typos and grammar errors, considering how those were easily fixable.
This book is about a girl with an average life. She's an eighth grader, not popular, but not unpopular. She has the typical worries of an eighth grade girl- family, friends, boys, and clothes.
Erica's life is turned up-side-down when her mother comes home with 9 bikinis. Her mom can e strange sometimes, so she doesn't think much of it. But once at the dinner table, her dad begins treating her mom like an invalid. Scared by their unusual fighting, they begin to wonder what's wrong. That's when it comes out that Erica's mom has breast cancer.
I personally couldn't put this book down. Erica's inspiring journey to reach a goal she set to help her mom in a symbolic way, constantly giving help without being asked, and dealing with all her emotions without anyone to talk to, it made the story much more real than other YA's and MSes. Most others have the main character dump drama down seemingly effortlessly. Im only disappointed with typos and grammar errors, considering how those were easily fixable.
September 16, 2016
This book is really interesting because it talks about family and feelings. This book is about a girl who is turning 8th grade name Erica but sometimes her family call her Chia. She has emotion problems and family problems. Like she is happy sometimes, she's jealous, and worried. The family problem is that her mom has a breast cancer. So her family needs to work together for doing chores. Lastly, Erica needed to work on the fundraiser for her mother.
December 16, 2014
This book is a nice one. It's about a young teenager trying to help her mom that has breast cancer and is failing school. She finally get things untangled and makes friends with her sister.
June 26, 2013
Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel was another book I wasn't sure I wanted to read. This wonderful book came with another book that I had requested and I wasn't planning on including it with the Best of 2013 Middle Grade reads until I read it ~ it wasn't at all what I was expecting.
This book opens with your typical, everyday 7th grade, hyper boy vigilent teen ager focused on what all little 7th grade girls are aware of. You have boy/clothes/when am I going to reach the "close encounter of the #1, 2, 3 or 4th degree (involving boys - but you already figured that out right?)" crazy girls (plus one boy in their group who is just starting to be aware of Erica and she hasn't a clue (of course).
But then Erica's life changes - her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. I was very pleased with how the author didn't brush over the subject, worked through Erica's emotions, her dad's worry about his wife and Erica's little sister's almost OCD counting and need to clean. There is a LOT of information, emotions and kids are given some tools they can use with major events in their lives. Most of all I loved how Erica stepped forward and helped around the house - taking care of the cleaning and her little brother as best as a 13 year old can. In many ways she took over much of the organizing of their home - and the resulting consequence would be eye opening for kids & their families.
I was very impressed with this book all around. The only thing I was a little un-impressed about was the parents in the book take the kids to a "shrine" where people make promises to the "Virgen de San Juan del Valle" in order to heal the people in their lives. The parents in the book take the kids there and have their kids make a promesa but of course don't do a good job of making sure the girls understand that nothing they do can heal their mother. Instead of putting their fear and trust in God they turn to promises, the Virgin Mary and works to hopefully heal their mom.
Parents should take the time to read the book first or at least read it with their daughters. Talk about how God is there to support us and while He can heal us sometimes he doesn't choose to. Talk about how we can help others, support and encourage each other and how we can let our friends know we are there if they need us. I would of LOVED to see a list of discussion questions with this book. It's outstanding and should be on each library shelf & in each school.
There is a strong hispanic presence in this book and you'll find some cultural references throughout the book, not just in language, but in religion and this provides a great opportunity to discuss cultural differences and different beliefs and thoughts as well.
Disclaimer: I was offered a copy of the book to read and review on CCB. I was not required to post a positive review and no $ exchanged hands. Thanks for reading CCB!
This book opens with your typical, everyday 7th grade, hyper boy vigilent teen ager focused on what all little 7th grade girls are aware of. You have boy/clothes/when am I going to reach the "close encounter of the #1, 2, 3 or 4th degree (involving boys - but you already figured that out right?)" crazy girls (plus one boy in their group who is just starting to be aware of Erica and she hasn't a clue (of course).
But then Erica's life changes - her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. I was very pleased with how the author didn't brush over the subject, worked through Erica's emotions, her dad's worry about his wife and Erica's little sister's almost OCD counting and need to clean. There is a LOT of information, emotions and kids are given some tools they can use with major events in their lives. Most of all I loved how Erica stepped forward and helped around the house - taking care of the cleaning and her little brother as best as a 13 year old can. In many ways she took over much of the organizing of their home - and the resulting consequence would be eye opening for kids & their families.
I was very impressed with this book all around. The only thing I was a little un-impressed about was the parents in the book take the kids to a "shrine" where people make promises to the "Virgen de San Juan del Valle" in order to heal the people in their lives. The parents in the book take the kids there and have their kids make a promesa but of course don't do a good job of making sure the girls understand that nothing they do can heal their mother. Instead of putting their fear and trust in God they turn to promises, the Virgin Mary and works to hopefully heal their mom.
Parents should take the time to read the book first or at least read it with their daughters. Talk about how God is there to support us and while He can heal us sometimes he doesn't choose to. Talk about how we can help others, support and encourage each other and how we can let our friends know we are there if they need us. I would of LOVED to see a list of discussion questions with this book. It's outstanding and should be on each library shelf & in each school.
There is a strong hispanic presence in this book and you'll find some cultural references throughout the book, not just in language, but in religion and this provides a great opportunity to discuss cultural differences and different beliefs and thoughts as well.
Disclaimer: I was offered a copy of the book to read and review on CCB. I was not required to post a positive review and no $ exchanged hands. Thanks for reading CCB!
October 13, 2016
Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel is a realistic fiction book about a girl named Erica who has a pretty normal life until her mom gets breast cancer. Her life turns upside down and she suddenly has so much responsibility! She depends on her mood ring to tell her how she is feeling.
She has so many struggles when this becomes her new life. Her family goes to this church in a valley far away to ask God for help and to heal their mom, so they made a promise/promosa to God to do something that is supposed to show him that he should heal their mom! Everyone has been doing their promise/promosa but their mom has not been getting better. On top of all of that her friends have not been helping out with her situation. They have been talking about it non-stop and all Erica wants to do is forget about it!
In social studies they are doing a project to help out the community. Erica chooses to start a fundraising campaign to help her mom and people who have breast cancer and she hopes to have 500 sponsors by the time The Run for the Cure race comes along. It is a fundraiser for breast cancer and that's what she chose for her promise/promosa. As the race time comes, she doesn't have 500 sponsors yet! How will Erica do it all when she has school family, friends, her race, sponsors, and so much more going on in her life! Will her mom beat breast cancer? Will she find a way to realize her own feelings? Will she be able to get through these hardtimes?
I really enjoyed this book! It is a perfect example of how somebody's life could be! when I was reading this book I could never put it down!
She has so many struggles when this becomes her new life. Her family goes to this church in a valley far away to ask God for help and to heal their mom, so they made a promise/promosa to God to do something that is supposed to show him that he should heal their mom! Everyone has been doing their promise/promosa but their mom has not been getting better. On top of all of that her friends have not been helping out with her situation. They have been talking about it non-stop and all Erica wants to do is forget about it!
In social studies they are doing a project to help out the community. Erica chooses to start a fundraising campaign to help her mom and people who have breast cancer and she hopes to have 500 sponsors by the time The Run for the Cure race comes along. It is a fundraiser for breast cancer and that's what she chose for her promise/promosa. As the race time comes, she doesn't have 500 sponsors yet! How will Erica do it all when she has school family, friends, her race, sponsors, and so much more going on in her life! Will her mom beat breast cancer? Will she find a way to realize her own feelings? Will she be able to get through these hardtimes?
I really enjoyed this book! It is a perfect example of how somebody's life could be! when I was reading this book I could never put it down!
June 10, 2016
Cant even rate this it's disgustingly horrible but great vocab too girly
November 27, 2016
Embraced a book that tries to celebrate South Texas kids. I'll be checking out Confetti girl, next, because from reviews, I think it'll probably be more culturally authentic than this novel. I look forward to that read. This one, though -- I wonder if the publisher put demands on the author to get the writing past 320 pages. Dunno, I have a feeling.
Very difficult to get through, but I refused to put it down -- glad I didn't because a lot of the outstanding structural writing issues were finally resolved within the last 25 pages or so (Of course!).
Lopez demanded a lot from her readers. She did nothing to tease out solutions for poor Chia who had to tolerate parents who never stepped up, a brainy and demeaning younger sister, and shallow "friends," etc. Her more interesting, authentic and complex chapters where characters authentically interacted were few and far between. Character development lagged and as a result, the story suffered.
Chia internalizing everything was torture for me, especially because Lopez sets her up as such a powerless figure -- horrible at math, failing in classes, doesn't stand up for herself until the end, etc. Worse, Chia has a "psychic," dream-teller friend -- a figure of the curanderas and mystic fortune-tellers in Hispanic culture. This doubly tells me (along with the mood ring meme) that Chia's experiences are meant to be purely happenstance. The author makes life happen to her instead of empowering this eldest child of an Hispanic family.
This could have been a more culturally significant book, especially with Chia's "promesa" taking a central role in the story -- but Chia never deeply explores the significance of promesas in her own Hispanic culture and she doesn't become an expert over time, what I consider a lost opportunity for the reader to know about the natives of South Texas. We come away knowing a promesa is just "an Hispanic thing," the same as whether an Hispanic kid grows up bilingual or not: it just sorta happens.
Shallower parts of the book could have been used to develop some of these ideas.
Very difficult to get through, but I refused to put it down -- glad I didn't because a lot of the outstanding structural writing issues were finally resolved within the last 25 pages or so (Of course!).
Lopez demanded a lot from her readers. She did nothing to tease out solutions for poor Chia who had to tolerate parents who never stepped up, a brainy and demeaning younger sister, and shallow "friends," etc. Her more interesting, authentic and complex chapters where characters authentically interacted were few and far between. Character development lagged and as a result, the story suffered.
Chia internalizing everything was torture for me, especially because Lopez sets her up as such a powerless figure -- horrible at math, failing in classes, doesn't stand up for herself until the end, etc. Worse, Chia has a "psychic," dream-teller friend -- a figure of the curanderas and mystic fortune-tellers in Hispanic culture. This doubly tells me (along with the mood ring meme) that Chia's experiences are meant to be purely happenstance. The author makes life happen to her instead of empowering this eldest child of an Hispanic family.
This could have been a more culturally significant book, especially with Chia's "promesa" taking a central role in the story -- but Chia never deeply explores the significance of promesas in her own Hispanic culture and she doesn't become an expert over time, what I consider a lost opportunity for the reader to know about the natives of South Texas. We come away knowing a promesa is just "an Hispanic thing," the same as whether an Hispanic kid grows up bilingual or not: it just sorta happens.
Shallower parts of the book could have been used to develop some of these ideas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2015
In this book ask my mood ring an eighth grade girl has a very awesome summer until her mom Is struck with breast cancer.she has many problems and so does her mom, I had a grandparent with thereroid cancer he died a month after my birthday after surviving 5 years of it....so this book is very specific and gets close to details.The plot is very good but more importantly we have a few characters.introducing Erica the main 8 grade character p, or 6+[8.9.000.4.3.2]|4|=carmen although this sister seems like an anoying pest she has a sweet side and a side that skips grades EVERY YEAR. the robins also known as ericas child hood freinda contain of gumwad,shawntae,ilaina,and patty.
I believe this writer mag have some expirence with the disease because everything my grandfather told ended up in this book exept a few details. I enoyed reading this book and I would like to read more of her books.
I believe this writer mag have some expirence with the disease because everything my grandfather told ended up in this book exept a few details. I enoyed reading this book and I would like to read more of her books.
February 19, 2015
Eighth grader, Erika Montenegro, from San Antonio, Texas is a normal teen who collects things. She has a large Chia pet collection and thus her nickname is Chia. She also has a younger, brainy sister, Carmen, who is hard to deal with. Chia deals with all her emotions which her mood ring displays. But there's a new emotion now that her family learns her mom has breast cancer. Her family deals with this sickness by going to a nearby church and making "promesas" promises after they see the miracle room. Chia's promise is to run a 5K in the Komen Race for the Cure and get 500 people to sponsor her. Her friends have school social projects too, but they come together to help Chia.
I enjoyed this Hispanic household that embraced its heritage, but at the same time, was also was a typical American family.
I enjoyed this Hispanic household that embraced its heritage, but at the same time, was also was a typical American family.
October 14, 2015
Imagine the summer before 8th grade and you just found out that your mother has breast cancer. That’s what happens to Chia/Erica the main character in the book, Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez.
The book follows the life of Erika Montenegro, a teenager getting ready to start 8th grade. After learning about her mother’s cancer, she visits a famous church and makes a promise to run a 5k race in exchange for her mom’s health. Because it’s such a hard time in her life, Erica is feeling so many things she needs a mood ring to help her.
I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is facing hard times. The book is mainly written for teens; it could be enjoyed by anyone even if they are not in that position themselves. After reading this book I would be interested in reading other books by Diana Lopez. This is a novel by the way.
The book follows the life of Erika Montenegro, a teenager getting ready to start 8th grade. After learning about her mother’s cancer, she visits a famous church and makes a promise to run a 5k race in exchange for her mom’s health. Because it’s such a hard time in her life, Erica is feeling so many things she needs a mood ring to help her.
I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is facing hard times. The book is mainly written for teens; it could be enjoyed by anyone even if they are not in that position themselves. After reading this book I would be interested in reading other books by Diana Lopez. This is a novel by the way.
July 21, 2015
Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel was a really great book. It was about a topic that I find special to talk about because cancer has been a big part of my life. I haven't had cancer but a lot of important people in my life have.
This book was all about how Erica dealt with her mother having breast cancer. Erica had to make a promesa so show that she will do something for her mother to become heathly. Erica is nicknamed Chia because she gets these Chia pets for every birthday and Christmas. You follow Erica on an adventure with eighth grade, a school project, her promesa, her life at home and always being compared to her younger sister.
It wasn't my favorite book but it was really great read.
This book was all about how Erica dealt with her mother having breast cancer. Erica had to make a promesa so show that she will do something for her mother to become heathly. Erica is nicknamed Chia because she gets these Chia pets for every birthday and Christmas. You follow Erica on an adventure with eighth grade, a school project, her promesa, her life at home and always being compared to her younger sister.
It wasn't my favorite book but it was really great read.
August 13, 2013
I know this is a YA book, but I feel like it was really oversimplified. What message was the author really trying to get across? Was is breast cancer awareness? Was it about promesas and cultural understanding? I also wonder what the purpose was for throwing in that the dad listened to NPR in the car. Don't get me wrong, I listen to NPR, but it just seemed like it was randomly thrown in the story. I thought the story was all wrapped up a little too neatly and didn't paint a very realistic picture of the mom's breast cancer recovery.
October 30, 2017
I rated this book 5 stars because it was really interesting to read and it has some non-fictional stuff. It was about the main characters mom having cancer and she did a promise that she would gather 5,000 people to do a 5k in exchange for her moms health to get better it wasen´t and easy job at first. I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading about how people help out others . They could make this book better by not putting to much stuff about her sister being so smart and her being so dumb.
June 19, 2014
All the reviews rated this really high, but I am shocked it made the lone star reading list. Of course, I never liked girl drama and it is laden throughout the book along with the whiny sister. There were times that I almost abandoned it. 6th grade girls will like it because they will like the girl drama, the mom has cancer (love sad stories), and the wish list for boys. I just didn't care for it.
July 29, 2017
This took me 20 fucking days to read. I have no words for the struggle it was to get through this. The subject matter is serious and I do sympathize with the main character, but MY GOD the dialogue in this book was equivalent to sticking rusty nails into my eyeballs.
December 11, 2012
Great book!
February 10, 2015
Diana Lopez is a good author i enjoyed this book and while reading it!
April 21, 2020
Erica (Chia is her nickname) is waiting to receive a mood ring in the mail that will help her to know how she feels... Or at least that's what she thinks. The night before it arrives, her mom tells her that she has cancer. Erica has to grow up a little quicker and some things that were important to her and her friends aren't as important to her, but they don't understand.
Good middle school read.
Good middle school read.
August 17, 2018
It was a pretty good story, but there was a lot of improper grammar. There is also the fact that I could not figure out what message the author was trying to get across. It was all just kind of thrown together. Also, if you don't enjoy reading about about middle school drama, do yourself a favor and don't get this book.
July 16, 2021
I wanted to slap the parents - the dad especially - constantly, but it was a cute story.
Read
May 9, 2017The main character in this book had many obstacles that she had to overcome. In the beginning of the book Erica was told that her mom has cancer and Erica had a big problem with it. She was deciding weather or not to tell her friends.Erica had to help to take her of her little sister and little brother.
October 5, 2018
This is a very good book an I rate it 5 stars! This is a very heart warming book and I recommend it to all.
February 8, 2018
Exceptional.
January 26, 2015
The story: Chia just got some terrible news: her mother has cancer, and now everything she had planned for her 8th grade year doesn’t seem that important anymore. She makes a promesa (a kind of deal with God)and now she has to find 500 people to sponsor her in the Race for the Cure. She doesn't want to talk about it to her friends…but it turns out she’s going to need her friends more than ever before this is all over!
June Cleaver’s ratings: Language PG; Nudity PG; Sexual Content G; Violence G; Substance Abuse G; Magic & the Occult G; GLBT Content G; Adult Themes PG (cancer and the possibility of death); overall rating PG.
Liz's comments: Lopez paints a believable picture of an 8th-grade girl trying to deal not only with her mother's breast cancer, but also with drama between friends, crushing on all the top-tier cuties at school, and being totally oblivious to the one boy who really likes her, just because he's been around since first grade. Since this is a book about the effects of breast cancer on a family and on the relationship between a mother and daughter and sisters, there's a lot of talk of breasts, boobs, nubs, nipples, and all the other accouterments of the female anatomy. Pretty much for girls only!
Annotation with spoilers: The story opens with Erica "Chia" Montenegro's family getting the news that their mother has breast cancer. Dad freaks out and tries to control the disease by controlling their every behavior; genius little sister Carmen freaks out and develops a counting fetish; Chia freaks out too, but mostly tries to pretend that nothing is happening--but then is angry when her friends don't seem to take her troubles seriously.
Visiting the Virgin shrine in San Antonio, each member of the family makes a "promesa"--a kind of covenant where they agree to do something in exchange for the requested blessing from God. Chia decides to run the Race for the Cure, and to get 500 sponsors.
Chia runs with a group of girls (plus one guy) called The Robins, because they all sat together at the same bird-themed table in first grade. All of them are busy with a Service Learning Project in their social studies class; Chia's project fits neatly with her promesa, but the number is still daunting, and her early fund-raising efforts don't meet with much success. During the course of the book, she manages to help each one of her friends with their project, and in the end, just as she's about to fail to meet her goal, they all come through and help her get the last 100 sponsors.
The story ends with GumWad (the lone boy at the Robins' table, who totally has a crush on her but whom she's never considered as Boyfriend Material because of his propensity for having a colored tongue and lips due to way too much gum chewing)swearing off gum, and looking a little more attractive to her. She also learns to cut her rather obnoxious little sister a little slack, coming to realize that all Carmen's obsessive behaviors are due to her worry over their mother, and with their mother having completed her radiation treatment, but with another six months to go before they know whether or not she's in remission. So no cut-and-dried happy endings here...kind of like real life. Girls in grades 6-7 who enjoy stories about regular people and their problems will like this one!
June Cleaver’s ratings: Language PG; Nudity PG; Sexual Content G; Violence G; Substance Abuse G; Magic & the Occult G; GLBT Content G; Adult Themes PG (cancer and the possibility of death); overall rating PG.
Liz's comments: Lopez paints a believable picture of an 8th-grade girl trying to deal not only with her mother's breast cancer, but also with drama between friends, crushing on all the top-tier cuties at school, and being totally oblivious to the one boy who really likes her, just because he's been around since first grade. Since this is a book about the effects of breast cancer on a family and on the relationship between a mother and daughter and sisters, there's a lot of talk of breasts, boobs, nubs, nipples, and all the other accouterments of the female anatomy. Pretty much for girls only!
Annotation with spoilers: The story opens with Erica "Chia" Montenegro's family getting the news that their mother has breast cancer. Dad freaks out and tries to control the disease by controlling their every behavior; genius little sister Carmen freaks out and develops a counting fetish; Chia freaks out too, but mostly tries to pretend that nothing is happening--but then is angry when her friends don't seem to take her troubles seriously.
Visiting the Virgin shrine in San Antonio, each member of the family makes a "promesa"--a kind of covenant where they agree to do something in exchange for the requested blessing from God. Chia decides to run the Race for the Cure, and to get 500 sponsors.
Chia runs with a group of girls (plus one guy) called The Robins, because they all sat together at the same bird-themed table in first grade. All of them are busy with a Service Learning Project in their social studies class; Chia's project fits neatly with her promesa, but the number is still daunting, and her early fund-raising efforts don't meet with much success. During the course of the book, she manages to help each one of her friends with their project, and in the end, just as she's about to fail to meet her goal, they all come through and help her get the last 100 sponsors.
The story ends with GumWad (the lone boy at the Robins' table, who totally has a crush on her but whom she's never considered as Boyfriend Material because of his propensity for having a colored tongue and lips due to way too much gum chewing)swearing off gum, and looking a little more attractive to her. She also learns to cut her rather obnoxious little sister a little slack, coming to realize that all Carmen's obsessive behaviors are due to her worry over their mother, and with their mother having completed her radiation treatment, but with another six months to go before they know whether or not she's in remission. So no cut-and-dried happy endings here...kind of like real life. Girls in grades 6-7 who enjoy stories about regular people and their problems will like this one!
January 21, 2018
Lots of drama and introversion. Pretty much everyone reacts poorly when the breast cancer diagnosis: the father gets frantic, the kids go bonkers. The mom does hold steady. “Promesa” was a good theme to run through the story. A great feel good ending about how you have to let people help, don’t wall off when trouble starts.
The lack of manners from the neighbors when “Chia” was looking for sponsors is a classic. This book was recommended to me by my daughter and I like to read what she reads to get a sense for what is going on. Fascinating teen internal dialogue. Still can’t get over all of the self-inflicted drama!
The lack of manners from the neighbors when “Chia” was looking for sponsors is a classic. This book was recommended to me by my daughter and I like to read what she reads to get a sense for what is going on. Fascinating teen internal dialogue. Still can’t get over all of the self-inflicted drama!
January 4, 2016
Erica “Chia” Montenegro is your normal boy-crazy 8th grader when her mother is suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer. Now Erica’s got bigger things to worry about. Her mother has to have a mastectomy and her follow-up includes radiation treatments – which sap all of her energy and make her nauseous. Since mom needs to rest and dad has to work, many of the household responsibilities fall upon Erica, who is finding it extremely difficult to take care of her family (younger brother and brilliant, but infuriating younger sister) and be a full-time student. She also takes on the additional challenge of training and finding sponsors for a 5K supporting breast cancer research – something she feels will benefit her mom and others like her. When Erica’s grades begin to suffer, her teachers, friends, and family all come together to help her out.
Erica’s struggles are realistic and the crisis her family is facing (cancer/illness) is one to which many readers will relate. The mood ring aspect seems tacked on as an afterthought, however, and the effortless evaporation of Erica’s sister’s obsessive tendencies is hard to believe. Although Erica and her friends do develop some as characters over the course of this novel, their interests and cares sometimes seem incredibly shallow and naïve. Maybe not much has happened to middle schoolers in their short lives, but reducing them to “boy-crazy,” fashionistas who think “math is so hard!” is frustrating in that it reinforces certain “girly” stereotypes by presenting them as the cultural norm. Maybe girls would have more interesting thoughts if they had more interesting peer/role models.
I almost gave up on this several times because I couldn’t stand the characters. I muscled through because Diana Lopez does a decent job describing Mrs. Montenegro’s cancer and the implications and impact her illness has for and on her family.
Erica’s struggles are realistic and the crisis her family is facing (cancer/illness) is one to which many readers will relate. The mood ring aspect seems tacked on as an afterthought, however, and the effortless evaporation of Erica’s sister’s obsessive tendencies is hard to believe. Although Erica and her friends do develop some as characters over the course of this novel, their interests and cares sometimes seem incredibly shallow and naïve. Maybe not much has happened to middle schoolers in their short lives, but reducing them to “boy-crazy,” fashionistas who think “math is so hard!” is frustrating in that it reinforces certain “girly” stereotypes by presenting them as the cultural norm. Maybe girls would have more interesting thoughts if they had more interesting peer/role models.
I almost gave up on this several times because I couldn’t stand the characters. I muscled through because Diana Lopez does a decent job describing Mrs. Montenegro’s cancer and the implications and impact her illness has for and on her family.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2016
When I visit the library and don't know which book to get, I close my eyes, spin around, walk back and forth across the isle a few times, and pick a random book. This is how I found the book 'Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel'. When I saw the title, I thought, Oh no, not another I-don't-know-if-he-likes-me-so-I-asked-my-friend-but-she-gave-me-a-dumb-anwer-so-now-we're-fighting kind of book. And it was like that. Sort of.
'Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel' is the story about a normal girl with a normal life who is thrown into the world of learning that her mother has cancer. It was a pretty good book, except for two things. One is that she judges boys by how they look and whether or not they talk to you instead of how they think of you as a person. But let me just say, I am almost exactly the same age as Erica and I do not have dumb thoughts like 'does he like me?' and 'he invited me to his party, so that must mean he likes me, right?'. The other thing I didn't like about the book was how Erica tried to change her little sister into a 'normal' person. I thought for sure that by the end of the book, Carmen was going to crack and go back to being a smart, nerdy girl that she was before, maybe make a few nerdy friends who have a lot in common with her. But that didn't happen. So that tells me that the author thought that smart people shouldn't share their knowledge unless it is about something the other person cares about, and the rest of the time they should just shut up and listen. What kind of message is that? I mean, first we have Veronica Roth, saying that all smart people are only acquiring knowledge for their own selfishness, and now we have Diana López as well.
Other than that, the life of Erica is very well thought out. If an eighth grade girl found out her mother had breast cancer, I suspect she would have reacted very similarly to this.
'Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel' is the story about a normal girl with a normal life who is thrown into the world of learning that her mother has cancer. It was a pretty good book, except for two things. One is that she judges boys by how they look and whether or not they talk to you instead of how they think of you as a person. But let me just say, I am almost exactly the same age as Erica and I do not have dumb thoughts like 'does he like me?' and 'he invited me to his party, so that must mean he likes me, right?'. The other thing I didn't like about the book was how Erica tried to change her little sister into a 'normal' person. I thought for sure that by the end of the book, Carmen was going to crack and go back to being a smart, nerdy girl that she was before, maybe make a few nerdy friends who have a lot in common with her. But that didn't happen. So that tells me that the author thought that smart people shouldn't share their knowledge unless it is about something the other person cares about, and the rest of the time they should just shut up and listen. What kind of message is that? I mean, first we have Veronica Roth, saying that all smart people are only acquiring knowledge for their own selfishness, and now we have Diana López as well.
Other than that, the life of Erica is very well thought out. If an eighth grade girl found out her mother had breast cancer, I suspect she would have reacted very similarly to this.
August 3, 2017
This book was very well done. I have my different genres of books that I read. Books like 'Gone with the Wind' or 'House of Mirth' are my heavy reads. These types of books, like this one or 'Notes from a Liar and her Dog,' are my lighter reads when I don't want to exert much energy mulling over the text. I just wanna read for fun! And I have to say, this book was tight and developed. I emphasized with all the characters. The mother, although sick did not act like a victim and I loved that. In fact, she took the best of her situation. The father, although he made mistakes, was a very sweet and loving father and husband, something we need to see more of in young adult books. The friends were amazing. Their different personalities was very realistic and not papercut. They reminded me of characters on a sitcom, and I would love to have a sequel or even a spinoff about the friends. And oh I loved Carmen. She was that stereotypical nerdy little sister, and at first I was rolling my eyes at this repetition I keep seeing in novels lately. But the author surprised me by putting so much depth in the character. I sympathized with her and she acted like a real kid instead of some brainiac all the time. Lastly, we have the main character, and I loved how she internalized in herself and showed us who she was instead of telling us who she was. What I loved about the book is that author can take a clique and twist it in her own style and flavor. Loved it!!!
The only character I did not like and couldn't like was Jimmy. He was the most annoying baby I've ever read, he even tops Fudge from Judy Blume! Why didn't the author put depth in him. Everytime he would appear I would groan, Gimmie gimmmie! He is going to be extremely selfish when he grows up.
But other than that the whole story was great.
The only character I did not like and couldn't like was Jimmy. He was the most annoying baby I've ever read, he even tops Fudge from Judy Blume! Why didn't the author put depth in him. Everytime he would appear I would groan, Gimmie gimmmie! He is going to be extremely selfish when he grows up.
But other than that the whole story was great.
May 16, 2013
With a title that refers to mood rings, how could this be anything but a feel good novel? Of course, it's that and more as the main character, eighth grader Erica (Chia) Montenegro copes with the fallout from her mother's operation and treatment for breast cancer. While her father creates rules to keep the household quiet so her mother can sleep and heal, Erica assumes extra responsibility for her younger sibling Jimmy and watches helplessly as her sister Carmen obsessively counts everything. The fact that Carmen is a math whiz while Erica struggles with math adds to her annoyance at her sister. Still, the family pulls together and finds hope in a famous church known for a miracle that once occurred there. Erica makes a promesa to God in exchange for the hope of her mother's recovery, and begins collecting donations for her participation in a Race for the Cure walk. I enjoyed the interactions among the loving, concerned family members and Erica's supportive friends, the Robins, as well as her growing appreciation for Roberto. The author does a fine job in describing the effects the illness of one family member has on the rest of the family and capturing Erica's often-confusing emotions. I often felt, though, that her friends were rather hard to distinguish from one another and that there were no real surprises in the story. Still, many middle grade girls will be drawn to this book with its frank conversations about breasts and the aftermath of a mastectomy, even describing the search for the right prosthesis. I wish there had been more of those passages instead of Shawntae's claims of being psychic.
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