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Summary
Summary
A deliciously charming and heartwarming novel all wrapped up in a warm tortilla.
Tacos. Burritos. Guacamole. Estefania "Stef" Soto is itching to shake off the onion-and-cilantro embrace of Tia Perla, her family's taco truck. She wants nothing more than for Papi to get a normal job and for the taco truck to be a distant memory. Then maybe everyone at school will stop calling her the Taco Queen.
But when her family's livelihood is threatened, and it looks like her wish will finally come true, Stef surprises everyone (including herself) by becoming the truck's unlikely champion. In this fun and heartfelt novel, Stef will discover what matters most and ultimately embrace her identity, even if it includes old Tia Perla.
Author Notes
Jennifer Torres is the author of Vega's Piece of the Sky ; Stef Soto, Taco Queen ; The Fresh New Face of Griselda ; and other books for young readers. She writes stories about home, friendship, and unexpected courage inspired by her Mexican American heritage. Jennifer started her career as a newspaper reporter, and even though she writes fiction now, she hopes her stories still have some truth in them. She lives with her family in Southern California.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Estefania "Stef" Soto just wants to be a typical seventh grader. She wants to have friends. She wants to fit in, and she wants a bit of independence from her overprotective immigrant parents. Stef knows enough not to expect to be able to take a city bus to school, the way her former friend Julia does, but even a school bus is deemed too risky by her parents. Her papi insists on picking her up every day in Tia Perla, his beat-up taco truck. Each day, he asks, "¿Aprendiste algo?" (Did she learn something?) Then they find a spot for her father to drum up business while Stef does her homework. Deep down, she's proud of her parents and knows they are working hard to provide for her, but she's also resentful of the ease with which some of her classmates, especially Julia, get things-like tickets to see Vivian Vega in concert. Even if she could earn the money for tickets, she knows her parents would never let her go. This earnest debut features a relatable narrator, stalwart friends, and caring parents who are working hard and struggling. The subplot involving a pop idol threatens to veer into after-school special territory but avoids doing so. The core of the story-friendship and the importance of family-wins out, leaving tweens with a satisfying, gentle read. VERDICT A worthy addition to library shelves; hand this to younger middle grade readers looking for family-centered realistic fiction.-Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The bones of this polished debut are familiar-overprotective parents, seventh-grade social struggles-but Torres fleshes them out with authenticity, humor, and heart. The only child of immigrant parents, Stef is embarrassed by her father's rundown taco truck, Tía Perla, which he considers part of the family; after helping Papi serve customers, Stef watches as he locks the vehicle's kitchen door "and gives it a quick tap-the way you might congratulate an old friend with a pat on the back." Tía Perla plays a key role in the development of both the plot and Stef's character: her growing self-confidence helps her deflect ongoing mean-spirited comments about the truck from her onetime friend Julia, she summons the courage to speak up at a meeting debating regulations that could put her father and other mobile food vendors out of business, and she uses Tía Perla to save the class dance during a power outage. Stef's fresh, honest voice will resonate with a broad swath of readers, as will the relatable struggles she negotiates. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Estefania Stef Soto wants nothing more than for her parents to stop treating her like shes a little kid. That means letting her walk home from school alone instead of having her dad pick her up in her familys unsightly food truck, Ta Perla (which ex-best friend Julia Sandoval has convinced her makes her smell like tacos). It also means allowing her to go to the Viviana Vega concert that everyone in the entire world is attending. When new regulations threaten to shut down her fathers business, Stef thinks it isnt the worst thing in the world. No Ta Perla means no food truck waiting for her after school and maybe even some freedom from her overprotective parents. But when a power failure almost ruins the schools fundraiser, Stef realizes that Ta Perla might not put such a cramp in her style after all. Torres perfectly captures what its like to be a young person seeking independence and learning about responsibility. She breathes life into the old food truck, which becomes another character. We meet her in the school parking lot: Ta Perla, huffing and wheezing and looking a little bit grubby no matter how clean she actually is. Young readers will feel a kinship with Stef as she struggles to spread her wings in this engaging and relatable middle-grade novel about growing up. celia c. prez (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Debut novelist Torres delivers a light, touching novel about a seventh-grader, her first-generation familys food truck, and her tribulations at school. Estefania Stef Soto is the daughter of hardworking, rule-abiding Mexican-American parents; she is a skilled artist, but at school shes best-known for Ta Perla, their family food truck. When not stationed at parks or convenience stores, Papi can be found driving it to and from school to chauffeur Stef, which humiliates her. Present-tense narrator Stef is an only child who speaks Spanish at home and finds herself translating for her dad from time to time; Mami works evenings as a cashier at the open-all-night grocery store. Just when the story starts to feel like a standard-issue preteen drama rife with petty rivalries, a substantial, meaningful, two-pronged plot develops: the depletion of art-class supplies leads to a student-led fundraiser, and new city-government rules threaten the familys food-truck business. Woven through the story are both typical Spanish words (rale, ndale, vmonos) and more elaborate phrases, such as Aprendiste algo? and Es una cantante. (The Spanish is unitalicized and effortlessly explicated in context.) Torres is mindful of the casting, which includes Latino teachers, parents, and students (and a Latina pop star) and a Korean student (Arthur Choi, Stefs close friend). Short chapters give readers an engaging glimpse of food-truck culture through the Soto familys sacrifices, values, and hardships. Once readers get past the drama, theyll cheer for Stef Soto, her family, and Ta Perla. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Stef Soto is tired of feeling babied by her parents, and she's especially tired of being known as the Taco Queen because of her dad's food truck, called Tía Perla. She wants them to give her a little more freedom, but she's having trouble working out how to prove she's mature enough. When her family's livelihood is threatened by new food truck codes, Stef wants to speak out in defense of Tía Perla, but she's not quite sure where to begin. This cheery, relatable story features short and sweet chapters with plenty of Spanish words and phrases sprinkled in and a cheer-worthy main character in Stef, a happy, funny girl who adores art above all. It's her outlet for everything she feels, and when she finally realizes how her love of art can help her parents' business, she also learns how to better communicate her feelings and needs. While the tone here is often lighthearted, this will also be relevant to any kid whose parents have moved to another country to seek a better life.--Pino, Kristina Copyright 2016 Booklist