I finished this delightful story with my ten-year-old daughter today. We thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience. Gomez flawlessly integrates Spanish culture and language into the everyday lives of her characters. As someone who is attempting to learn Spanish, it was lovely to be able to see familiar words, and learn new ones throughout the story. Although the book does include a vocabulary list at the end, there are generally enough contextual clues to allow young readers to decode meaning. I also love her descriptions of traditional food--they made me feel hungry!

So, what is the story about?

When Doña Rosa is trapped and injured on the eve of Araceli's third birthday, the Martinez children are the only one who can save her. Diego and Rico enter the virtual world to find Don Toño and get the passcode that will save their neighbour. Along the way, they meet a snobby penguin, a friendly lava lizard, a ditzy bird with a vague idea of directions, iguanas, tortoises and more. Gomez's vivid descriptions and illustrations will make young readers feel like they are in their own virtual reality adventuring with the children.

Gomez effortlessly conveys the themes of family, working together, and self-sacrifice in this beautifully illustrated chapter book, that had me tearing up at the end. The story and vocabulary is suitable for beginner readers (maybe as a bedtime story for the whole family), all the way up to independent readers. I highly recommend it!

My daughter gives it five stars too and says everyone should read this book!