Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Marcia McCall

• Title: Summer of the Mariposas
• Author: Guadalupe Marcia McCall
• Publishing: Lee and Low Books. October 2, 2012.
• Synopsis: This book is a chapter book intended for middle school students and beyond. The main character in this story Odilia and her four sisters discover a dead body in a swimming, which marks the beginning of a long journey to return this body back to it’s family in Mexico. This Mexican American retelling of The Odyssey seems to be rivaled by the girl’s return trip back to Texas. The girls embark on their journey of trial and tribulation to their long lost grandmother’s house in search of information on their missing father with the help of ghost La Llorona. Along the way the sisters must outsmart a witch, a warlock, half-human owls, and bloodthirsty chupacabras. However, the real challenge that faces the girls is returning to the real world where the help of the supernatural doesn’t exist.
• This book is interesting and unique in that it is a story modeled after a classic but told in modern times. In addition. this story includes some references from both mythology and Spanish literature and also contains words from both English and Spanish language.
• I found this book to be very interesting. Not only is it very well written, but also it retells an old classic while inserting a Mexican American perspective, which I found to be truly special. I thought this story flowed seamlessly and I even found myself to be enjoying it more than The Odyssey from which it is based off of. Any book that can successfully retell a classic in a modern setting with a multicultural twist is an excellent choice and Summer of the Mariposas is one of those books. 
• While reading, I thought it would be awesome to read The Odyssey and then Summer of the Mariposas with a 5th grade class and then compare and contrast the two versions of the story. Through an activity like that, I could test comprehension as well as expose my students to both a classic work of literature as well as a multicultural version. 
• I was also thinking that it would be really fun and beneficial for my class to act out some of the pages of Summer of the Mariposas in a reader's theatre day. I would allow students to practice lines together create minimal costumes and perform for their classmates. This way I could test their comprehension through how well they portray important scenes from the novel. 
• While reading the whole original Odyssey would be too much for my students, as I read it in high school, I found a site that focuses on history for kids that has an excellent retelling that is easy for children to understand that can be found here: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/literature/odyssey.htm#!
• An excellent book trailer for Summer of the Mariposas can be found here: 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgVAmB_tvy0
• More information about the author can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Guadalupe-Garcia-McCall/e/B004OLQ9G0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1