Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan
At almost twelve years old, Maximiliano Córdoba knows he’s not a little kid anymore. He has big plans of making the village fútbol team and it feels like the pieces are falling into place when another boy from is village offers to get Max free tuition at a fútbol clinic a few towns over. He could really use the practice, and the prospect of spending the summer at the clinic with his best friends is enticing — but his plans are foiled by a firm “no” from his Papá. The clinic is only forty-five minutes away and everyone else’s parents are happy to let them go. Shouldn’t Max’s father, a former member of the national team himself, understand how important this is to him?
Scholastic Press brings readers another exciting tale from Newbery honoree, Pam Muñoz Ryan. Fans of essential modern children’s literature will recognize her as the author of Esperanza Rising and Echo, among others. Her latest work, Mañanaland, does not disappoint. Set in a world that transcends time and space, the journey that Ryan lays forth for Max is one that reflects difficult realities that may change form slightly based on era and location, but have always been present. It’s a culturally aware coming of age story that challenges young readers to strive for integrity rather than complacency. This book is designed for readers in grades three to seven, but it offers readers of all ages plentiful food for thought.
SOLVING MYSTERIES AND EXPLORING LEDGENDS
Stuck at home working for his father instead of attending the clinic with his friends, Max is starting to believe this may be his most boring summer yet. Luckily, he still has his favorite tradition to fall back on, telling imaginative stories with his Buelo. If only he could get his all-too-serious Papá to understand the spirit of adventure that he and Buelo share. Sometimes it seems to Max that Papá is set on treating him like a baby forever and spoiling all his fun, but just when it seems like Papá doesn’t care, he sets off on a trip to locate Max’s mysteriously missing birth records, which will allow him to try out for the fútbol team with the rest of his friends. Maybe Papá does care after all.
In the meantime, Max uses the increased freedom he experiences in Papá’s absence to try to solve some mysteries of his own. He’s never known his mother, who left when he was young, but maybe if he can find her he can get his own birth certificate back. The plan is perfect because he’ll be able to prove his age for fútbol tryouts and prove to his Papá that he can do something important on his own. But where will he start? Maybe the Hidden Ones — a legendary group of oppressed people secretly transported by brave and selfless Guardians from one safe place to the next — are more than just a story. The more Max digs, the more evidence he finds that the Hidden Ones and the Guardians hold the secrets to his family’s past. Now, he has the opportunity to investigate the secret transportation network firsthand, but is the risk too big to take? And if he goes, will the mysterious destination, Mañanaland, hold any of the answers he’s looking for?
For more on Pam Muñoz Ryan, please visit her website.