Mañanaland by Pam Munoz Ryan

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📗📘📙📕

                Mananaland is a magical book about justice and doing the right thing: Not to be selfish and  rather to save someone even though there is nothing that you gain by it.  Just because the law says something is right doesn't make it right.  This highlights some of the qualities that this book has. This is an amazing heartfelt book based in Santa Maria. It is about guardians and the hidden ones (refugees) sneaking away from a place nearby lead by a horrible dictator. Max is about to help. 
    Max loved soccer and the ruins. He always wanted to be the first kid to enter.  "Papa, may I please, please, please, go to the soccer clinic! Otis's Cousin is the head and it's only forty five minutes away!" Max pleaded to his father.
    "A lot can happen in 45 minutes," father said, already making up his mind.
    "Papa you went to the soccer clinic at my age! Chuy is going without me! I also need to get into the towns team -- I need to practice!" Max said praying that his father may magically change his mind.
    "Chuy's parents aren't going to let him go, you can help me at the ruins this summer as my apprentice," father said seeming exasperated.
    "But--"
    "I already made up my mind."
    "Chuy's going to go! This is so unfair I don't even wan't to go the ruins," Max said as he stormed 
off.
    Now he didn't even care, now that he was going to be left behind.  But this summer will be even more eventful than Max could ever imagine...

        I love Mañanaland and you will love it too! I love Max's character as he is cunning and kind. Max goes through a lot and struggles as he loses a friendship -- but then realizes there is a whole lot more to the world. This book has some bittersweet twists and turns and it opens a non sugar-coated window of what some refugees' part of the world can be like.








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