a fun children's chapter book with costumes, card games, and Latino representation.

the fourth book in the beautiful series "the kids in mrs. z's class" once again shows a beautiful and unique representation, this time we've got a story about memo, who's a fan of science fiction and fantasy things.
in the background, we've got a story about memo's grandma and his struggle with communicating with her since he doesn't speak Spanish well and she doesn't speak English well. very heartwarming story.

I received an electronic ARC from Algonquin Young Readers through NetGalley.
I appreciate the authors uniting to create this series. Each writes about a different classmate and shares their story. We meet Memo and see his friendship with Theo. The two love playing sorcery cards and plan to compete at Magicon. Alexander offers a look at Memo's family and school life as the story unfolds. I appreciate his relationship with his grandmother (Lala) and how both try to communicate while speaking two languages. Memo and Lala share they are both nervous to speak the other language as they don't feel they know enough. This tender moment will resonate with so many readers. The illustrations capture the joy and energy. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

This book is the perfect length for my kids. It’s interspersed with pictures, the font is great, and several books in, we feel like we’re getting to know the students in the series.

Memo loves to play the card game Sorcery with his friend Theo, although it confuses their classmates Wyatt. The only part of the game that Memo doesn't like is when he is supposed to sing a song when he casts a spell; he is not confident in his singing skills, so doesn't want to do this. When he and Theo go to Doomscroll Comics to get some more cards, they run into the owner's daughter, who is in their class, and she mentions that she is going to be in the karaoke competition. They also see fifth grader Josh, who buys a lot of expensive cards and tells them that he will beat them at the Sorcery tournament at MagiCon. Memo and Theo have been eagerly awaiting the con, and even put together costumes to wear. Memo's dad is supposed to drive the two, but with work and Memo's four sisters, he forgets. No one else can drive them, so Memo eventually reaches out to his grandmother. Lola has moved from Cuba to live with the family, and speaks Spanish around the house. Memo does not. He even has to have his older sister ask Lola for him. A plan is made to take a bus to the con, and Lola even dresses up as a fairy queen. When Memo and Theo get separated from Lola at the con, they panic a little. Memo gets the idea that if he competes in the karaoke competition, Lola will hear him and they can be reunited. Will he be able to create a new song to Lola's favorite tune and be brave enough to perform it?
Strengths: I love that there are a decent amount of grandparents in this series, and the idea of not being able to communicate with a grandparent because of a language barrier is heartbreaking to me. I was glad that Memo finally connected with his grandmother, and that the two were able to have fun at MagiCon together. There isn't as much of the classroom setting in this title, but that was okay. Memo's family is interesting, and it's not a suprise that his father might be distracted and forget that he promised to drive the boys. The illustrations are particularly helpful in this installment, and we can see the boys' costumes!
Weaknesses: Third grade seems a little young for a con unless parents are also really into them, but since I have never actually been to one, I don't really have any idea!
What I really think: I somehow completely missed this author's Goblin Secrets, which won the National Book Award in 2012, but I'm not the only one; there's not a single copy in my district. There are a good number of older middle grade books that talk about conventions (Maggs' Con Quest, Pla's Stanley Will Probably Be Fine, Markell's The Gamemasters of Garden Place, and Jung's The Boys in the Back Row), but it's interesting to see this experience portrayed for younger readers.

This book was a big hit at our house for a book together. The characters were fun, the storyline was cute and the plot was great. My kids really enjoyed this read! Well done

I was excited for this series. I like that each character’s story is written by a different author. Best way to get a variety of personalities. Memo Castillo is brave and a problem solver. Great story with diverse characters.