Alamo Wars Book

An entertaining novel for young adults that challenges readers to look at both sides of a conflict. The death of a very dedicated teacher prompts her colleagues to present a play (written by the teacher). Many challenges present themselves as teachers & students find that putting on a play is not as easy as it looks.

Children's Literature

The story's premise, that teachers would want to put on a culturally insensitive play, is a stretch even if the cause—to honor their recently deceased colleague who wrote it—is honorable. It is hard enough to believe that teachers in a Texas middle school do not understand any Spanish but that they would insist on making students speak in stereotypical, degrading accents to sound "Mexicanish" is too much of a stretch. The solution at the end to say the lines in Spanish is so obvious and yet just a spur-of-the-moment thought by one of the characters, that it does not feel as satisfying as it could have. Too many stories are introduced and unanswered—such as one teacher's attraction to the new young English teacher—or disappointingly resolved—such as when the girl who decides that acting in the play is a sellout then decides it is okay because it will earn money for her friend's mom who already made the costumes. The story's focus on the teachers' perspectives and their day to day lives and meetings may be of less interest to readers than the perspective of the students, who are interesting characters. The bullying is appropriately left partially resolved and the book does show the limited role school officials can play in solving the situation. Spanish phrases are nicely interwoven and give the book a good feel of time and place. Those looking for similar themes might like to try books by Julia Alvarez, Viola Canales, Pam Munoz Ryan, and Gary Soto. Reviewer: Kathryn Erskine