Candid, Clear, Detailed, Multilingual
Tell It Like It Is: Francisco's Clear and Detailed Style
Sometimes being completely up-front is the way to go, and when it comes to Francisco's storytelling style, he's candid as can be. Give the kid some clear sentences that get straight to the point and he's happy as a clam—even when there's a lot going on, Francisco keeps things on the simple side. Check out his unfussy style when he's telling us about his family's new home:
The garage was worn out by the years. It had no windows. The walls, eaten by termites, strained to support the roof full of holes. The dirt floor, populated by earthworms, looked like a gray road map.
That night, by the light of a kerosene lamp, we unpacked and cleaned our new home. Roberto swept away the loose dirt, leaving the hard ground. Papá plugged the holes in the walls with old newspapers and tin can tops. Mamá fed my little brothers and sister. (9.15-16)
Did you notice how Francisco's style feels pretty effortless? He's not making things extra complicated or flowery, but just telling us what's what in his own clear-cut way. This means his candid sentences are on the short side, though he still packs in all the key details.
Speaking of details, they are bursting out of the seams of this tale, because Francisco's clear and candid style is also seriously detailed. No need to wonder what the holes of his walls look like—he's already given us a picture that's crystal clear. And if you've got a hankering to know how each family member helps out with the move, he's already packed that information in too.
Notepad = Librito: Francisco's Multilingual Style
If there's one thing that can make Francisco's super clear style tougher for English readers though, it's all the Spanish words and phrases peppered throughout the book. Francisco's native language is Spanish and he's learning English, so it totally makes sense that we'd see both languages in the book. But it can also make for some extra work for English readers.
Sometimes Francisco uses Spanish words for titles of people, like when he and his dad are talking about Papá's abuelita (grandmother) (11.11). And there are also oodles of places where Francisco uses Spanish and English words interchangeably to refer to the same object—just check out how he calls his notebook both his librito and his notepad (11.35). Usually all it takes to figure out the meaning of the Spanish word is paying attention to the story's context, like in this passage:
"La frontera" is a word I often heard when I was a child living in El Rancho Blanco, a small village nestled on barren, dry hills several miles north of Guadalajara, Mexico. I heard it for the first time back in the late 1940s when Papá and Mamá told me and Roberto, my older brother, that someday we would take a long trip north, cross la frontera, enter California, and leave our poverty behind. (1.1)
Since Francisco talks about moving from Mexico to California and "la frontera" shows up right before Cali, we can take an educated guess that la frontera means the border. And it does. But if you're not a Spanish language buff, don't fret—we'll help translate all the Spanish phrases for you, and here's a handy dandy translation link for good measure.