La canción de Shao Li

Gr 8 Up-After three years living at a shelter, 12-year-old Natalia returns to live with her careless and unscrupulous mother, Yuribe; her brother, Airon; and her mother's boyfriend. Yuribe enters Natalia in a contest for a reality TV show called One Minute of Glory. When the family arrives in London to appear on the program, Natalia and Airon get separated from the adults. After waiting at a train station for a long time, they decide to find their mother. They are hungry and cold and their only hope is to find the TV studios before 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Throughout the ordeal, Natalia remembers snippets of advice that she gained from a girl at the shelter. The two shared a great friendship and even though Shao Li was very young, her words are a source of strength and courage to Natalia. Ortiz de Zárate uses the third-person voice of a fictional children's writer to tell Natalia's story of friendship, loyalty, responsibility, and unconditional love.—Patricia Rocha, Teton County Library, Jackson, WY