Marisol

by Gary Soto, Richard Jones (Illustrator)

Marisol Luna is a lively 10-year-old girl who was born to dance. She's a fourth-grader who lives with her loving parents in a busy and largely Hispanic neighborhood in the heart of Chicago. Marisol goes to school (where she is a Two-Square champion) takes care of her cat, plays with the kids in her neighborhood, and takes dance lessons. Ballet folkl--rico (Mexican folkdance) is her favorite type of dance--and where she really shines--but she's been exposed to some jazz and a little tap. She's also taking ballet, but she's new to it and a little impatient with its rigors. Her attitude towards ballet changes only slightly when she meets a wonderful new neighbor. Miss Mendoza is a former Rockette who gently reminds Marisol that ballet is worth working hard at, because it's the basis for all serious dance. The upsetting news that her family is moving out to the suburbs is made worse when Marisol learns that the dance studio in her new neighborhood has closed. No tap, no ballet folkl--rico--not even ballet. She may have to take karate lessons! Instead, with the help of new friends, resourceful Marisol finds a way to keep dancing.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Juvenile

147 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

About the author

Gary Soto is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as NBC’s Person-of-the-Week. In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his hometown of Fresno.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this after reading an article that Gary Soto wrote in 2013 about the controversy that occurred when this book came out. I just read about a mom who wanted to move their daughter to the suburbs because they didn't have a yard and it'd be safer than living in the city of Chicago. really, who cares? The folks that were offended by this book need to realize that a book that is fiction can say anything it wants to. Why aren't these same people boycotting NCIS or other current criminal shows that show how "unsafe" certain places are in the US? it's a shame that this was the only book written about this girl. Of course, it was the typical American Girls formula, but probably decent enough that a little girl might learn to follow her dreams even if she has to move. (also, we get to see her worry about the changes, which is helpful for other kids going through similar situations.)

[Miranda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I was born to dance - even in my crib. ... By nine months, I was standing and moving back and forth in a cha-cha-cha"

Marisol Luna has a happy life with her mom and dad in their cozy little apartment in the big city. She has her dance lessons every week and even has started learning ballet - even though it is really hard.

But then Mom and Dad drop a earth-shattering statement. One that sends Marisol absolutely reeling.

"What about school? My friends? My dance classes. ... I don't want to move!" I cried.

By Mom and Dad have already bought a new home - it's bigger, quieter, and safer than the apartment, but Marisol cannot begin to comprehend all that she's leaving behind.

And worst of all - there's no dance classes in her new town. BUT, Marisol quickly realizes, there's an empty dance studio. She can work with that, probably.

I thought this one was okay as far as the "Girl of the Year" American Girl books go.

Marisol was a likeable main character, and I understand what she was going for throughout the book...though I did feel like this was one of those children's books that really wrap up SUPER easy. Like side-eyeing the plot easy.

Also, there were a few quotes in the beginning that also had me side-eyeing the story.

"I am Marisol Luna, first and only daughter of Hector and Elisa Luna. They are my parents and the loves of my life."

And this:

"My father is my first and only boyfriend, even though he has eyes for another woman - Mom!"

I get that the quotes were supposed to be humorous, and I do want to be respectful of the way other cultures consider and view various terms...and I've certainly head parents call their children the love of their lives (though not as common the other way around)...but the boyfriend comment definitely felt weird to me.

Thankfully this was as far as that train of thought goes, but it definitely had me squinting at the book in suspicion for a bit.

And I didn't like how the cat, Rascal, was indoor/outdoor. As someone who lives in an area that (at times) has a large feral cat population - the outdoor cats, even the part time ones, often have such short lives. I was a bit disheartened to see that in this story.

Overall, the story was fine, but not groundbreaking. That being said, I did like that the end of the book highlighted four real-life ballet folklorico dancers who were about Marisol's age!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories about girls moving away from their childhood homes always make me a little weepy. Oh, the heaviness of being a girl.

Marisol is a super fun character and I love her family, neighbors, and friends. I'm not a dancer, so I glazed over some of the dance stuff, but I felt totally immersed in her world.

[Charlotte🫶 · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars

Cute! Not my favorite ag book but I liked the dance aspect.

[Lulú · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Eh...

[Kate Matson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for third graders. Personally, I think all American Girl Books are awesome! they're great reads for elementary kids.

[Eva B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still remember waking up Christmas morning and going downstairs to see an inflatable bouncy area in the basement. What does that have to do with Marisol? Well, the bouncy thing was poorly made and deflated almost instantly so my sister and I were sent back to bed with that just feeling like a fever dream and woke up later to see a Marisol doll and all of her accessories in its place. It was the only GOTY doll I ever had (even though I got her way after Marisol's time as GOTY). Unfortunately, I did not like her book. The writing came off as very "how do you do, fellow kids?" in a way the other ones don't and it completely took me out of the story since Marisol never sounded like an actual 10 year old girl, just what an adult man imagines one to sound like. I liked her cat though.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This American Girl book is about Marisol Luna who lives in Chicago and loves to dance. She also loves her neighborhood, school, and friends so when her parents decide to move from their apartment to a new house in the suburbs she is sad. Mediocre writing makes this somewhat trite story even less compelling. Peppered with some interesting facts about Marisol’s ethnic background, this book might be okay for the target audience of 10-year-old girls but, unlike some of the other books published the American Girl Company, it doesn’t really hold much for adults.

[Taylor]

Marisol is an american girl today type of book. In this book Marisol loves do dance, it's her passion! but with the upsetting news that her family is moving to chicago she will have to meat new friends be in a new neighbor hood but worst of all NO DANCE! Instead of giving up useful marisol comes up with a plan with her two friends. Will they figure out a way to still let Marisol be able to dance? I love these american girl books 5 Stars!****

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a company/publisher known for creating characters that are lively and unique, Marisol fell utterly flat for me. She and all the other characters in this book, aside from her cat, were boring and without depth. Furthermore, the narrative seemed to wander aimlessly, with many extraneous details thrown in that were utterly irrelevant to the plot, almost as if the author were trying to reach a word count minimum.

Bizarre and disappointing.

[Eeboo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like when her cat Rascal ran away

[K James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written, very predictable, I didn’t care for it.

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

(*slightly nervous laugh* Well, didn't think I'd read it that fast...)

I liked it. Reminded me of early Disney Channel movies, the way it read. The ending was almost too good to be true, but it was told in a simple way, and made me believe it. And Marisol seemed very much like a 9 or 10 year old to me, which I appreciate.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌟 4.5!

Such a sweet story, with some lovable characters and a nice message. Loved learning about dancing, and how passionate Marisol was about it! (Sidebar, absolutely love the name Marisol. It’s so pretty). Mr. Mendoza kind of rubbed me the wrong way occasionally, but I loved all of Marisol’s best friends, and the fall vibes! A fun story.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. So here we have this book that does not give me AG vibes at ALL. So here we have a Hispanic- American girl who’s story is portrayed so realistically I could die, I mean I know this was written 16 years ago, but this book is a work of art.

[Cecilia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the second most boring American Girl book I've ever read. (Next to the Caroline books. SOOOOOO boring!!!)

[xmilkshakex · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute bb but not too much to the story itself, even for an AG book. I will say that it brought me back to 2004 Chicago, and Latino-chicago and for that it has a bit of my heart <3

[Amanda Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always move your cat before your furniture.

[Magen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of story left here, I wish Marisol got a second or even third book.

[allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

can tell it was written by a white man but i love marisol and recently bought the doll so needed her book too!

[Harmony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do dance... big inspiration

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book from the American Girls publishers but it's not part of any of the "traditional" series of books like Felicity or Addy. It's a stand-alone story of Marisol, who really, really loves to dance and is very talented. Her parents decide to move, though, and that means leaving her school, her friends, and her dance studio.

The basic problem is that, where they are moving, there are no dance studios. It looks like she won't be able to do the thing she likes most to do unless, somehow, she can convince someone she knows to start up a dance studio of their own in the area where she's moving.

Marisol is Hispanic, and there are not many books about Hispanics in the series (and almost none about Asian-Americans), so it's interesting to see how this one is handled. There is no historical section in the book, although there is a section about some real-life girls who are dancers.

The book is ok, more of a "slice-of-life" type of book than anything else.

[Britt-goodie of newsieness · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what series this is from, because some of them are history and some of them are American Girl of the year and some of them are Just Because.

But yeah, she liked to dance, and it was pretty good. There's this guy and his name was...I forget, but his name wasn't I forget. And he had this shaved ice and he was eating it and she walked out with her friend and he was all sad and she was like "What's wrong?!" and he was like "...It's gone..." and she saw the popsicle stick on the ground and she was like "Oh brother". I think his name began with an R, like Raymond or something. And she threw candy down on the people. No, it wasn't Raymond. Maybe it didn't begin with an R. Hmmm.

I did like the not-Raymond guy. He was so funny.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marisol is moving. What keeps this from being just one more book adjusting to the move is Marisol herself. I love her dancing obsession and the dedication she has for becoming a dancer someday. Stories with ambitious girls make me smile!

But also, we focus not so much on the usual - adjusting to a new home - as what is usually glossed over: the emotions involved in leaving a home that you love. This is what makes this book unique and something I would give to any girl leaving somewhere to start over someplace new. An excellent story and one I enjoyed reading!

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't usually buy the Girl of the Year dolls or books when I was a kid. They weren't around long enough, and I was more interested in the historical dolls. I did identify with Marisol, however. I loved dance as a kid. One of the best part of my week was dance class. I danced for about eight years, some ballet and tap but mostly hip-hop. I loved it. I could understand why it was so important to Marisol to be able to dance. Recommended!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely my favorite of the Girl of Today books so far. Marisol is a young girl who loves to dance. One day her parents annnounce they are moving from inner city Chicago to the suburbs. Although she hates the idea at first, Marisol begins to see some positive things about the more. There is a lot of Spanish and some French used in the book and I like the fact that there was a glossary in the back with definitions of all the words.

[Sean Kottke]

Realistic fiction, from the American Girls Today series, about a young Mexican-American girl who has to deal with her family's impending move to the Chicago suburbs. Standard aspirational fiction for young girls, almost politically correct to the point of blandness, but the talented Soto manages to inject enough ethnic and regional flavor to keep the story grounded.

[James Vickery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to recommend to a female student that is a dancer! This book would be great to integrate with students of Hispanic background to connect with the culture of the character. This book can help the audience understand how it would feel to go to a different school and to be in a new situation.

[Sharia A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a girl who is Latina and enjoys dancing. This book is about how to continue your dreams no matter what you have to do or what you go through. This book talks about how to accept a new situation and evolve from it. I would enjoy seeing children in 3rd grade reading this book.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned how hard it is to leave yor friends.