Barbara L. Talcroft (Children's Literature)
The coquí is a tiny tree frog with a distinctive song. Thirteen-year-old Luz hears it for the first time when she and her family move to Puerto Rico from Chicago. Although her mother and her new step-father, Leon, are full of hope for a better life on the island, Luz and her older brother Rome deeply resent leaving their schools and friends. Things don't work out well for the family: Leon finds only menial work and Mami can't find work at all. San Juan's disadvantages are briefly noted--snarled traffic, crime, drugs--while the family must live in a tiny, isolated village without even a library. Fortunately, Luz's prosperous grandfather, Tata, comes to their rescue, offering them a home on his beautiful farm. Luz eventually comes to terms with her unhappiness when she makes a friend, and realizes how much she loves Tata; Rome can't adjust and will return to Chicago. While middle readers may learn something of Puerto Rico, Luz's situation is hardly representative of many struggling families there: her affluent grandfather is a talented carver, her new girlfriend's mother is a sculptor, an attractive boy aspires to be an artist, and Luz is a budding poet (who, tiresomely, thinks too often in similes). Since we see everything through narrator Luz's eyes, some of the other characters are barely glimpsed or understood--there's too much Luz does not see or know. At the end, many problems remain unresolved, even though the coquí finally sings for Luz. 2004, Holiday House, $16.95. Ages 10 to 15.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2004 (Vol. 72, No. 6))
Uprooted from her home in Chicago, Luz finds herself in a home she has never known: San Juan, Puerto Rico. It does not help that her mother, Mami, and her new step-father, Leon, are so enthusiastic about what Luz and her siblings think is a terrible decision. Rome, her older brother, is soon running with a dangerous crowd while Luz must endure being an outsider as a gringa in an almost entirely Latino school. Unemployment, poverty, and uncertainty plague the family, while distractions of a missing father, a troubled friend, and a new step-father keep Luz off balance. While Rome yearns for pizza in Chicago, Luz soon finds that the scent of mangoes and the shadows of bougainvillea on her bare legs might feel like home after all. Rich with imagery, this unique coming-of-age story is comforting without becoming predictable. Like a warm breeze scented with orchids. 2004, Holiday House, 213p, $16.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 12 up. © 2004 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Timnah Card (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June 2004 (Vol. 57, No. 10))
Luz Sorrento doesn't care if Puerto Rico is the land of her ancestors; as far as she's concerned, she's a native Chicagoan. Okay, she speaks Spanish, but that's no reason to leave her friends, her school, and her dog behind for a tiny island town without even a library. Luz's new stepfather assures her that the coquí, a tiny Puerto Rican frog, may live in other countries, "but it will sing only in Puerto Rico." Wahoo for the coquí, thinks Luz; whether she herself will ever feel at home in Puerto Rico is another matter altogether. Letters to Chicago pepper Luz's first-person narration, inviting comparison between Luz's frequently attempted correspondence and the minimal response she receives from her former friends. This lack of encouragement from the Mainland makes Luz's new life seem more welcoming than the old, an impression that allows her to change her attitude and settle into life on the island. In contrast, Rome, her brother, tries to stow away on an ocean liner and sneak back to his girlfriend and hockey buddies in Chicago. Since readers will likely harbor their own doubts about whether they would survive (much less enjoy) a forced removal to a distant land, the inclusion of both Luz's and Rome's reactions gives their experience authenticity. The wordcraft of the tale is skillfully rooted in vocabulary and perceptions appropriate to Luz's personality and age, and the descriptions of Puerto Rico's tropical beauty are seamlessly embedded throughout. Luz herself is a likable narrator, entirely credible as a girl caught in limbo between childhood and adolescence as well as homelands old and new. Readers browsing the shelves of early teen fiction will appreciate a timely nudge toward this out-of-the-ordinary offering. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2004, Holiday House, 213p, $16.95. Grades 6-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2004)
After a difficult move from Chicago to Puerto Rico, thirteen-year-old Luz finds strength and comfort in time spent with her aging grandfather. Though the story is not new (father leaves, mother remarries, one sibling courts self-destruction), Luz relates these events in a fresh, clear voice that involves the reader and offers hope. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2004, Holiday, 213pp, $16.95. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Marge Wood (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 17, No. 3))
Polikoff has written a touching story of a girl named Luz who is going through a difficult time in every way. Her face has a scar that needs to be removed. Her father leaves the country for Italy, and finally her mother remarries. As if all that isn’t enough, Mami, Luz’s mother, and Leon, her stepfather, decide to move to Puerto Rico, the homeland they both miss. Luz, her brother Rome, and their little sister Marisol don’t want to move there or anywhere else. Chicago is home. The only comfort that Luz gets from the idea of moving away from her home and her friends is knowing that her grandfather, Tata, will be there. This story is like a mural with many parts: children losing their friends, parents having overly high hopes for their new homeland, everyone learning the difficulties of such a major life change. Luz makes friends with a girl whose mother is blind and whose drug-dealing uncle lives with them and makes life difficult. Rome is so distressed over leaving Chicago that he mixes in with a bad crowd. He wants so much to have enough money to move back to Chicago that he risks his reputation and his life for money. Mami and Leon are both stretched thin with their efforts to get jobs. Marisol is the happiest. She adjusts well. And all through it, Luz hears the coquis, the little tree frogs who can only sing in their homeland. Luz finds that her old friends aren’t as eager to stay in touch as she thought they would be. Leon and Mami decide that Rome would be better off back in Chicago with good friends and relatives. Tata invites them to come live in the country with him so that Leon can start his plant nursery. Rome gives Luz a little silver pin shaped like a coqui as a reminder that he, too, can sing better in his homeland. This is a beautiful story told by somebody who knows Puerto Rico by heart. Fiction. Grades 4-8. 2004, Holiday House, 213p., $16.95. Ages 9 to 14.

Delia Culberson (VOYA, December 2004 (Vol. 27, No. 5))
When thirteen-year-old Luz Sorrento's mother and stepfather decide to return to their native Puerto Rico with their three children, Luz is devastated and deeply resents having to leave school friends and familiar surroundings in Chicago for a place that she has never seen. Their new, albeit temporary, home is in an ugly, run-down section of the city, and she dislikes her new school. But when her close-knit family moves into her ailing grandfather's rambling but cozy farmhouse to care for him, Luz begins to appreciate the importance of family ties and the beauty of her new environment, where the cheery song of small tree frogs, called coquí, is everywhere. As Luz gets reacquainted with her beloved grandfather, gets to know other nice relatives, and meets some friendly teens, including handsome neighbor boy, Felipe, her attitude begins to change. When offered the chance to return to Chicago for the summer, she actually decides to turn it down. Polikoff writes a well-plotted, beautifully descriptive story. The locale, the dialogue, the circumstances, and the sadness and hurt experienced by Luz and her older brother over the desertion of their biological father, all sound genuine. Luz and her brother finally move on with their lives in this coming-of-age tale. Theirs is fortunately a close-knit family with a loving mother, kind stepfather, and a sweet young sister. Although her brother chooses to return to the mainland to finish school, Luz now realizes that, like the tiny coquís that celebrate and enjoy life, she also can be happy in her new home. Entertaining and heartwarming, Luz's story will make a fine addition to the young adult collection. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Holiday House, 213p., $16.95. Ages 11 to 18.