Skip to main content

Review: Danilo Was Here

Image
By
Danilo Was Here
By Tamika Burgess
New York: Harper, 2025. Fiction. 298 pages.

It's 1989 and Danilo Osorio wants to follow his dreams, he just isn't sure what they are. Danilo is from Panama and lives in a neighborhood that was mostly destroyed by the recent U.S. military invasion to depose dictator, Manuel Noriega. After their apartment is condemned, Danilo and his family are sent to a refugee camp. Months earlier, Danilo's father left the family to look for work in the United States, but now the calls from dad have stopped and he hasn't sent home any money either. Baseball, the thing Danilo shared with his father, has always made Danilo special -- now it might be the key to changing things for his family. An American baseball scout arranges for Danilo to come train in San Diego, and Danilo agrees to go, to hopefully track down his father and get the money his family needs. As his search for his dad wears on, tensions with his mostly white baseball team heighten, and as Danilo adapts to living with a wealthy, white American family, Danilo must decide what path he wants to pursue.

This historical fiction novel is set in an uncommon time period for a middle grade novel, and includes a good amount of information to familiarize readers with the setting. Danilo is a winning character, with struggles and inner thoughts that a lot of readers will connect to. His feelings of abandonment, his culture shock moving to America, his PTSD from surviving a military invasion, are all realistically and thoughtfully handled. But, even with some heavy topics, this is a fast-paced book with some really good kid topics. Kids who like sports will really enjoy the baseball aspect, and lots of kids will likely relate to Danilo trying to find his path.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Run

By
Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...
1 comment
Read more

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

By
Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

By
We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...
Post a Comment
Read more