Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.