Never has a book such as Tortilla Sun made me want to eat food so badly. But that certainly isn't the only entertaining aspect of the novel. Tortilla Sun is about a little girl who is sent to New Mexico to stay with her family for a summer, ostensibly because of her mother seeking a higher education, but also to introduce her to the culture that she was always a part of but never fully realized. This book was written with the setting, New Mexico, clearly in mind. The adobe houses, the color of the sunset over the village, the dresses and attire that the village people wear. It is all so surreal yet so stunning. This book could double as a travel advertisement for New Mexico. THe village is a character in and of itself in this text. It has an old life, including all the stories the people in the village tell, and a new life, with a rebuilt church, panaderias and adobe flats. Even the homes themselves have old souls inside, as evidenced by the doorways being too low for those of a growing generation (literally).
The story is similar to that of Mexican White Boy in that we have a character who is Mexican but doesn't speak Spanish, never really was introduced to the Mexican culture, and is forced beyond their will to stay with their Mexican family they know nothing about for the summer. Beyond that, it is a search for the main character, a young pre-teen by the name of Izzy (or Isadora, or Izzy Bella, or Bella, depending on when and who you are). She is the most enlightening character of the bunch. By this I mean she has so much we can learn from with her innocence and youth. She is afraid to come to New Mexico but adapts very quickly, realizing that these people in the village have stories about her father that she never knew. The story also involves a young girl, Maggie, and a boy Izzy's age that acts as sort of a romantic interest. Izzy is as sweet as cherry pie and all the village people seem to recognize this immediately. She seeks to understand what words belong on her baseball, as the only two words, Because and Magic, sandwich two invisible words. Throughout her journey Izzy seeks to find out what this means. She projects her young heart unto others and seems to give good spirits to anyone she comes in contact with, almost her own innate 'magical' ability to inspire and give hope.
Its hard to tell who this text appeals to. I truly believe that anyone could read this and enjoy it. I'm a nearly 25-year-old man and I loved it. I think that some secondary students may feel that if they were 'forced' to read this, they may object because of the adolescent characters in the text. The truth is, if you enjoy reading, you'll probably enjoy this book. It is a sweet tale of innocence and could easily be taught to a lower-middle-school reading or language arts class with a chapter a day. The chapters largely contain interesting and often magical tales, and it really gets the reader a good insight on traditional, and in this case Mexican, storytelling and culture. It is for that reason that this is such a fun book to read. Cervantes does a masterful job at turning this piece of literature into an art. I think that those of any age who enjoy to pick up a light-hearted, good-spirited tale would enjoy Tortilla Sun.
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