Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza by Kitty Felde is a brilliant starting point in a new series called The Fina Mendoza Mysteries which was interesting and weirdly educational, you learn things about not just Congress but also Washington DC, without realising it. This was a brilliant book with great characters, plot line and it also makes you feel things like grief and sadness for Fina who is grieving her mom. I can't wait for the next instalment.

Book CN: grieving for a dead parent

Firstly I really loved this book, but I did find it a struggle to deal with Fina trying to deal with her mother's death. This is partly on me, I'd not really taken that in from the description, but the author's writing is actually a bit too good here and it really hit me hard! (I guess this is a compliment??)

Aside from that I adored this book, I not from the US and I now know a lot more about how congress works and some aspects of the history of Washington DC. The information is snuck in gracefully and I suspect a middle grader wouldn't notice they were learning at the same time!

I'll be seeking out the rest in the series!

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza by Kitty Felde. shares the fun and sometimes hard adventures of the daughter of a US Senator who has recently moved his family to Washington. Fina explores the Capital building, the area surrounding it and discovers a mystery that she must solve.
The facts about the capital building as well as the area are accurate and will teach many young readers about their nation's capital. Most US children (or citizens really) will never get to explore the capital building or the District of Columbia, this Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza provides a glimpse into the history, the architecture and the building and government that in which we must all have pride.
Fina Mendoza and Senator Something get into some trouble but still remain the best of friends while working their way out of the trouble. Fina grows her strength of character and growth of responsibility as the story and the mystery unfold.
As a former elementary school teacher, I would certainly have had this book and the rest in the series in my classroom. There are lessons to be learned not only of history and government, but also of dealing with difficulty and conflict but also the changes and growth we must go through when things in life don't always go as we want them to go. Growing up is hard but Fina is handling it well.

#WelcometoWashingtonFinaMendoza #NetGalley @kittyfielde #KittyFielde
[NetGalley URL] @StoryTimeWithGrammy

Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza is a fun book for kids. There is mystery, some heartache, family conflict, as well as learning about Capitol Hill.

I enjoyed this middle grade story with all of the characters within. The main character was Josefina Mendoza.

Josefina Mendoza ( or short Fina) and her sister( Gabrielle or for short Gabby) are moving to Washington DC after the death of their mother. Their dad is a congressman that has been working in Washington DC. On weekends he would fly home to California to see his family before the death of their mother. He has decided to move his daughters closer to where he is working at. While walking around Capitol Hill she forgot her sweater and go back to find it. But instead of finding her sweater she finds the demon cat of capital hill. Legends say that if you see the demon cat you will be cursed with bad luck. Since see the demon cat things have been happening. She decides to see if the demon cat was real or not. What she finds is quite surprising.

This was a fun story to read. It had action, adventure, suspense and drama throughout. It had a few laughs throughout. There was a bit of a mystery within. It was fun trying to solve it.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

I really loved following final journey in finding the demon cat while also exploring her new city, Washington DC. It’s not just about finding or solving the mystery of the demon cat, tho. You also get to know Fina as a person and her character growth in the story. You also get to know her family which includes her sister and her dad and her abiulaita. It has has good representation of Hispanic holidays and culture as a whole. All in all, it is a good and quick read and you will not be disappointed.

Even though this is a children’s book, I, an over 70 senior, thoroughly enjoyed it. Fina has recently arrived in Washington with her older sister and Congressman father. Through Fina, we see a good bit of Washington and the government. Fina stops by her father’s office every day after school. On one of her wanderings throughout the buildings, she comes upon the demon cat. The legend of the cat says that the cat lives in the Capitol in the crypt. If anyone manages to catch a glimpse of said cat, he/she brings a curse upon himself/herself, bringing bad things. Fina learns all this when she sees what she is sure is the legendary demon cat. Fina then sets off to find out all she can about the cat, hoping to find a way to avoid or cancel the curse. Can she manage to do this? Not really sure, but if anyone can do it, Fina can, based on her determination and resolve—and sleuthing abilities.

This is a great book for young people. In addition to giving the reader a good picture of this young, precocious, sensitive girl, the reader can learn a lot about the government as well as about life as an elected official. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the ins and outs, the myriad of clues and research Fina went through in her search for the demon cat. I also enjoyed watching Fina grow during her months long journey. I think this is a great book for young people, though, as I said, it can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. I highly recommend it to everyone, regardless of age. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

We read this book together with my 11-year-old son and loved it! Fina is a well-rounded, young, and curious female protagonist who while in Washington DC finds herself having to solve a mystery.
My son really enjoyed following Fina around while learning a lot of historical facts and things about our US government, and DC, he didn’t know about.
Fina is a fun, adventurous, and relatable little girl that every 5 to 12 year old can identify with. You will be with her all the way!

I highly recommend this book for parents who have middle grade readers, but above all I recommended it to elementary schools, bilingual school programs, and aftercare centers to have in their libraries, so that their children may see themselves reflected in this protagonist, or come to know a different kind of protagonist that we don’t see enough of in books these days. Thoroughly enjoyable book! We hope there is a next one!

Fina Mendoza is the daughter of the California Congressman from the L.A. area. She was not originally supposed to move to DC with him, but her mother died, and so she and her sister have to follow her dad there. She has no friends, and no one to look after her after school, so she goes to her father’s office, and gets to know a little bit about how government works, or as much as a she can.

She takes over walking a dog, Senator Somebody, for a rep from Georgia, and because she is wandering around the Capital, she sees a lot more. Including a shadow of a cat that she learns is called the Demon Cat.

Someone tells her that anyone who sees the cat, will have bad luck, but everyone else she tells this to says it is only a story.

So, she has to get to the bottom of this story.

This is a cute mystery for middle grade students, about the daughter of the congressman from the 34th district of California, (which, real life, is the Echo Park, downtown L.A. , Parts of Eagle Rock, and doesn’t include Angeles National Forest, but let's pretend it does for the sake of the story, and perhaps at one time, it did.) But, having lived in L.A., I am quite familiar with the area, even though I lived in the 35th district, which is right next door.

The author is from L.A. and used to cover congress on the radio. As she says, she went from explaining politics to adults, to explaining it to children.

THis looks as though it will be part of a series, where we will learn more about how government work, while solving mysteries.

Works for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Chasapeake Press for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 3rd of July, 2023.

Fina Mendoza has recently moved to Washington, DC with her Congressman father. She and her older sister had been living at home in Los Angeles while their father commuted back and forth, but since their mother passed that is no longer an option. After school each day, Fina explores the Capitol building waiting for her father to finish work. When she has a strange encounter with what she is told is the Demon Cat of Capitol Hill, Fina is worried that it will bring bad luck to her and her family. And it certainly seems to! Her abuela breaks her leg, her sister's clothes are eaten by moths, and more! As Fina sets out to discover the true story about the Demon Cat, she also makes new friends and shares fun facts about the workings of Congress with the readers. This book has a little bit of everything and is a great start to a new series! Recommended for grades 3 & up.

Thank you so much to Chesapeake Press and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Fina has moved from California to D.C. for her dads job as a congressman. When she goes into the crypt room one day she hears and sees something strange that she believes is the demon cat who sets a curse on her and her family as one bad thing after another happens. She decides to try and solve what it is and why it cursed her family.

I really loved the characters in this book and the way the mystery was so natural and just intertwined into real life. I loved trying to piece it together myself as I read it. It was a really great book.

Fina was such an amazing protagonist, you really felt so much for her and were rooting for her to find a way to fit in into her new life. She was struggling with so much change with her new life, and the loss of her mom and then having even less time with her a dad. She finds a best friend in a dog and gets entwined into a mystery of a curse giving cat.

Parts of this book were really sad and honestly made me feel so much for the characters they were all struggling, they all missed their mom/wife/daughter and those scene were really sad and emotional.

The mystery of the story was so interesting, it interconnected to the main storyline so perfectly and it was a realistic and natural mystery. Fina was going through a lot and was susceptible to being scared and found this unusual mystery in the crypt and though it scared her it gave her something to focus on. I really loved how she solved it and it was such a fun mystery.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was so entertaining. The characters were all really interesting and worked perfectly together everyone had something they were dealing with and I loved that. I loved figuring out the mystery and getting the answers in the end.

I do recommend this book it’s a really fun mystery, with great characters, you get some educational lessons about congress and history. It had lots of heart and emotion and is a really easy and great read.

Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza is an engaging children's mystery. The book is part of a series but can easily be read alone. After the death of their mother, Fina Mendoza and her sister have recently moved to Washinton, D.C. with their congressman father. Fina misses her mother, her abuelita (grandmother), and her best friend, Trina. Her abuelita has a broken leg, so she cannot come to take care of Fina and her sister, Gabby as planned. The mystery revolves around the Demon Cat of Capital Hill. Legend says you're cursed with bad luck if you see the Demon Cat. Fina has seen the cat and is certain it is the cause of her family's misfortunes.
The book is an incredible teaching tool that never feels instructive. The reader learns about various Washington landmarks, Congress, and the Legislative Branch. The book even describes little-known Capital locations. When Fina and her family return to California for a holiday, many Latine cultural traditions are recounted. This young people's novel deals with family, teen angst, loss and grief, loneliness, cultural values, civics, and taking responsibility for one's actions, all secreted in an engaging mystery! Kitty Felde has written an impressive work.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chesapeake Publishing for this book.