Alamo Wars Review

By Author: Ian
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Josephine "Miss Mac" McKeever had been teaching English and theater arts at Rosemont Middle School for so long that her colleagues often joked that she would die in the classroom. Then, one day during class, she does. When another teacher, Mrs. Frymire, begins to clean out Miss Mac's classroom, she stumbles upon a play Miss Mac had written entitled Thirteen Days to Glory—The Battle of the Alamo. So, along with renaming the school auditorium for Miss Mac, the Rosemont High teachers decide that they will stage a performance of Miss Mac's play in her honor, and they begin casting calls. So begin the Alamo Wars!

Some of the students have bigger things to worry about than drama, things like Billy Ray Cansler, the black-shirted, pants-sagging school bully, who also happens to be quite popular. Izzy Pefia always seems to be running from Billy Ray and his gang of friends who want to beat him up for causing simple, yet Tag Heuer Replica Watches embarrassing accidents, like spilling food all over Billy Ray's back in the cafeteria. Thankfully, ...
... Izzy's best friend Marco Diaz, who is training to be a Golden Gloves Boxing Champion, usually arrives just in time to rescue him, using his courageous words instead of actually throwing punches to get Billy Ray to bug off.

Soon Sandy Martinez arrives, Miss Mac's replacement in the TEAM 3 block of teachers at Rosemont High. Although Mrs. Martinez doesn't receive the warmest of welcomes from all of her new peers, the teachers soon realize that they need to hang together to produce Miss Mac's play, something much harder than Miss Mac made it look when she was the theater teacher.

At first, many of the students are overjoyed by the idea of participating in the production; Marco is enthusiastic about playing the part of Jim Bowie, and Izzy is dying to be "Number One Mexican." Even Billy Ray has a speaking part, but unfortunately that's only because his father is helping to build the set. Raquel Flores, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico and Marco and Izzy's best female friend, refuses to participate because she believes the play depicts the Americans who stole the Mexicans' land as heroes. She confides in Mrs. Martinez about her issues, especially when she feels that the dialogue assigned to the Mexican characters is politically incorrect and extremely offensive, and luckily finds some support for her side.

However, Raquel becomes so set on defending her feelings that she speaks out against her teachers and even yells at Marco, who happens to be romantically interested in her. Soon, the students, the teachers, and many Tag Heuer Carrera Replica of the students' parents are up in arms about the play, falling on one side of the argument or another, even dropping out of the play. Will Rosemont High be able to come together in time to present their play successfully in a way that honors Miss Mac as well as each student's culture and ideas?

Ray Villareal has succeeded once again in creating a novel that is sure to grab the attention of many reluctant readers. Some of the themes in Alamo Wars, such as immigration and bullying, may be a bit heavier than those in his first novel My Father, the Angel of Death, but the wording and plot remain straightforward and accessible for children in fifth through eighth grade. In addition, Villareal spices up the appeal of his novel, especially for young boys, by adding a sports element to a story mostly based on school relationships. Although Alamo Wars focuses on the lives of three Latino teenagers and includes a few Spanish words and phrases, many students will be able to relate to the trials of adolescence that Marco, Izzy, and Raquel face. Whether it's finding a teacher you can really talk to, getting along with your little sister, or even secretly falling in love with your best friend, the characters in Alamo Wars play these situations out in a believable way that is easy to relate to and interesting to read about. This book meets a variety of high expectations in a way that surely won't disappoint its targeted audience.