Love, Amalia (review)

For as long as she can remember, sixth-grader Amalia has spent every Friday afternoon at Abuelita's home, listening to her grandmother read aloud from her beloved box of letters and learning about their many distant relatives. When Abuelita passes away, Amalia's home is flooded with family members she only knew from Abuelita's stories, and they seem far too happy about being together given the circumstances. In time, and with the help of Abuelita's box of letters, Amalia comes to peace with the loss of her grandmother and uses letter writing as a means of reaching out to those relatives she is just starting to know. This is a touching portrayal of love and loss, but unfortunately it leans heavily towards the sentimental. Abuelita's life lessons are delivered to Amalia in heavy-handed speeches, and the subplot about Amalia's friend Martha, who moves away, detracts from the family story. What's effective is the careful structure: the opening chapters introduce Abuelita's three adult children through stories, and, following her grandmother's death, Amalia gets to know them in person for the first time. The emotions ring true, with Amalia's raw pain of loss and resentment respectfully and vividly depicted. Those with a penchant for the dramatic will warm to Amalia's experiences; there is also potential curricular use in promoting letter-writing both as therapy and a tool for building relationships.