To Be Maya

This is a beautiful coming-of-age story that many teens will be able to resonate with. I love the Latino representation and Maya's strict household is one that I can relate to. The book explores themes of family, friendship, belonging, identity and adolescence. Overall, it's a quick and enjoyable read, though I would have preferred more conflict.

Well, I don't know – you wait for a young teen read presented in the first-person blank verse of the narrator, and two come along at once. The forthcoming Fly (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4767904929) was more mature and engaging, but for the target audience the book at hand is perfectly fine. It features Maya, a kid whose mother brought herself to the States from Guatemala and became a single parent as a result. This is one aspect for Maya feeling as if she's completely stuck in a stilted situation – life has made the melting pot of her first years at school much more segregated, and there's even one fewer Latinx pupils in the school now her bestie has moved on, and her mother is just too over-bearing and protective, not allowing her a mobile phone for the secrets it can keep and convey, and trying to keep her from experiencing the heartbreak she once had.

Added to that is her own self-perception, one the bullies kind of reinforce, that she's one of the unpopular, ignorable kids, and unlikely to get a date. But when one is offered, she is caught between upsetting him and her own happiness, and her mother.

If this is reading younger than my other experience of this format, it's partly because there seemed to be clues here to a different element of the plot – a twist that I assumed would always be coming until it most resolutely didn't. She sees herself as akin to some broken ethnic pottery, and the kid in school behind her calls her "Frida Kahlo" – surely this is where the plot tugs our heart strings and uses the advantage of the first person to give us a shockingly last-minute reveal that she uses walking aids or something? But no, the reason she is surprised to be asked out is purely based on colour, which kind of makes this a more simplistic read (and doesn't work as an advert for wherever it's supposed to be set, either).

Normally I don't like books where there is a shortfall between what I assume to be the contents and the reality, but I am happy to forgive this one. Again, the style is completely readable (but I knew now to ignore the interruptions that are the verses' titles), the first person strong and relatable, and the way a short story kind of content becomes a full-sized novel still quite welcome. So there are merits to this however long I sit and think of a different book with extra layers. It still deserves four stars.

Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 (4/5)

I enjoy poetry and have read several collections. This is, however, the first time I've read a poem recital of a story. It was quite unique, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. This is a completely new concept to me, and I'm already looking for more!

“𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 , 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒋𝒂𝒅𝒆. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏.”

Claudia Seldeen's To Be Maya is a nicely crafted depiction of a young teenager Maya, her inner struggles, and emotions. Maya's thoughts and emotions are beautifully presented by the author at various stages - when her best friend Gemma moves to a different school and it's just Andres now, when she's bullied by other girls at school, when she starts to feel different with Josh and her overprotective mother with a strict household doesn't approve of her thoughts. All of her emotional struggles are vividly depicted, as is her journey toward self-discovery.

I didn't know much about Guatemala, so learning about their history and traditions was fascinating. Every time I came across something new, like the national instrument Marimba, I found myself googling.

“ 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔.”

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. Teens, I'm sure, would be able to relate to Maya's emotions and feelings better.

This book is so beautifully written and hooks you from the start. I love that it's a hi-lo option for kids who need it.