| Name (First Name, Last Initial) |
| Hannah K |
| Age |
| 8 |
| Book Title |
| Lola |
| Author(s) |
| Karla Arenas Valenti |
| Genre |
Fantasy
Drama |
| What is the setting of the book? |
| Lola’s house is where most of it takes place. Their house has a magical tree. Later, they travel to a magical kingdom called Floresta. In Floresta, everything is colorful. |
| Who is/are the main character(s)? What are they like? |
| Lola is the main character. She is the only one who can see chaneques, magical creatures that flit in and out of the house. Her best friend is one called Cualli. Lola cares deeply for her brother, Alex. Alex loves having her around. Alex has a vanilla-scented ghost. |
| What is the conflict of the story? |
| A magical illness called the Stillness is coming to infect their world from Floresta. It makes everything it touches dry and grey. Alex catches it! Lola has to go to Floresta and talk to the queen, Madre Luci. She is small, and nothing like her mother, Madre Mitla. Madre Mitla died, though. Lola and Cualli figure out they need to tell the queen to tell the woodpeckers to turn the season to winter! Then the tree could rest, get strong, and get rid of the Stillness! They talk to Madre Luci, but she refuses to help them. She says, “If we turn it to winter, things will die! Especially my mother’s flower. ” Every queen gets a new flower as soon as they are crowned. When winter comes, the flower vanishes if the queen is dead. |
| What was the conclusion of the book? |
| Lola, Cualli, Tzilo (a hummingbird), and a couple of other hummingbirds make a plan. The hummingbirds would peck at the sun because of their sharp beaks. Winter would come, and Alex would get better! But Madre Luci bans them from Floresta. When Lola gets back home, she waits. 2 days later, It turns to Winter! Madre Luci says sorry, and says she was foolish. Still, Alex doesn’t get better. But then Lola figures out she spent so much time keeping Alex alive that she has to let go. Lola is very upset, then realizes that she has to let go and become a ghost. Alex is very upset too. Lola turns into a ghost, but is still very happy. She learns to travel back in time. She also watches Alex grow up.
And she becomes a vanilla-scented ghost. |
| While reading the book, what were your emotions? |
| It was sad that Lola had to become a ghost. It was exciting, too. I was angry at Madre Luci when she said no to Lola and Cualli. I think that was really bad of her, but Lola understands that. |
| Do you think the book had a moral? If so, what was it? |
| Don’t lie to yourself. Also, if someone is dead, don’t hold onto objects. That person will live on in your heart. Lola let go and was still happy. The real memory of someone is in your heart. |
| Star Rating |
| Selected Value: 8 (0 min / 10 max) |
| Why did you give the book this rating? |
| It was sad, but very detailed. I loved the characters and the plot. It was very surprising. But I was very sad at the ending. That’s why I gave it only 8. |
| What was your favorite/least favorite part? |
| My favorite part was when they ate special seeds and became birds. My least favorite was when Madre Luci banishes them. That part was still good, though. |
| Would you recommend this book to others? Why? |
| Yes. It is very dramatized, but the start and the middle are FANTASTIC. I would highly recommend it, but if you don’t like drama, you probably won’t like this book. |
| How much action was in the book? |
| Selected Value: 6 (0 min / 10 max) |
| How much drama was in the book? |
| Selected Value: 7 (0 min / 10 max) |
| How much humor was in the book? |
| Selected Value: 2 (0 min / 10 max) |
| How much suspense was in the book? |
| Selected Value: 10 (0 min / 10 max) |
