The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class: The Legend of Memo Castillo
Written by William Alexander
Illustrated by Kat Fajardo
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Meet the kids in Mrs. Z’s wacky and wonderful third-grade class!
Guillermo “Memo” Castillo and Theo Chang can’t wait to attend the local MagiCon convention. They’ll dress up in costumes, play in their first-ever Sorcery competition, defeat that snotty fifth grader Josh Harkan, and have an awesome day.
But Memo’s dad can’t drive them to the convention. His mom can’t either. Theo’s family is out as well. Memo has to figure out a new plan for their epic journey before it’s too late!
He turns to Lala, his fearsome abuela. Lala doesn’t speak English, though, and Memo doesn’t speak Spanish. When Lala unexpectedly agrees to take Memo and Theo to the convention, it opens up a whole new set of adventures and challenges—along with a kind of magic that Memo never expected.
Both sweetly poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, with black-and-white illustrations by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Memo’s story invites readers into Mrs. Z’s class where friendship and fun rule the school, from National Book Award winner William Alexander.
The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class is an innovative series where every book is written by a different all-star author and features a different kid in the same third-grade class. They can be read in any order!
Primary ISBN: 9781523527472
Publication Date: October 2024
Available As: Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, eBook
Chapter Book, Age 06 or older
Community Represented: Cuban/Cuban American
Themes: Arts, Cross-Group Friendship, Family Relationship: Grandparents, Format: Audiobook, Generational Differences, Generational Differences: Language, Multilingual: Spanish Featured Words, Own Voices/Lived Experience, Welcoming by School
Setting: United States
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Unknown Arrival
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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Source: Hachette Book Group