Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes

While the mystery itself is fun and its unraveling takes some sophistication on the part of all the involved parties, what really stands out here is the fascinating details about Kahlo and the museum dedicated to her. However, there is more to the siblings than meets the eye, and they ask for Paloma's help in finding a missing peacock ring belonging to the artist. Paloma enjoys spending time with Tavo, but she is also caught up in a mystery at the behest of Gael and Lizzie Castillo who offer to tutor her in Spanish. To her surprise, she even becomes fascinated by artist Frida Kahlo when the son of her mother's benefactor, Tavo Faril, introduces Paloma to the artist's work and shares some of her back story. Although twelve-year-old Paloma Marquez is not particularly thrilled with having to spend part of her summer in Coyoacan, Mexico, while her mother is there on a fellowship, she does value the chance to get in touch with her deceased father's homeland, language and culture.

Good read alikes would be Francis Hodgen Burnett's A Little Princess and/or Secret Garden, Love Sugar Magic, and Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows.ģ.5 for this one, a delightful page-turner for middle graders. I would make sure that this book is not only on Display for any Art books category or Hispanic Heritage, but it would just be a fun book group read or any diversity read. Cervantes' does a great job of describing each of Frida's work, the plot, the food, the characters' appearances, but best of all, the emotions of each of the characters, adult and child alike. It does introduce Spanish seamlessly and flawlessly.

Throw in a mysterious stalker, a Russian exchange, a theft, a frame-up, a break-in, a mysterious fortune teller, and the missing iconic Peacock ring and you have a good mystery. Paloma befriends a pair of mysterious siblings (Gael and Lizzie), discovers a love for Frida Kahlo's artwork, and wonders if she herself can utilize the subliminal themes in Frida's art to deal with her own life. Paloma joins her mom on an art trip to Mexico so Mom can study abroad.

Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes