Spanish 2 begins reading their first book: Fiesta Fatal
The new year brings new classes for some Redhawks, as students who were enrolled in single-semester classes last fall transition into their spring courses. The change brings new teachers, new content to cover, and new classmates for many.
January 4, 2022
Before break, students in Spanish 2 started reading their first book called Fiesta Fatal by Mira Canion. The main character Vanessa, is about to have her quinceanera but the party is forced to be cancelled when her mother realizes that they are in danger.
“Fiesta Fatal is about a young woman who is turning 15 and planning for her quinceanera which is a really important celebration in the Hispanic culture but there’s conflict,” Spanish teacher Yuridiana Franco said. “She does not know that her dad is working as an undercover detective with a Mexican drug cartel and her dad has some issues with the cartel discovering that he’s not being honest about his identity. They have to run away, which throws a kink in their party.”
The Spanish 2 teachers picked this book because it talks about a lot of the cultural traditions that happen on the day of a quinceanera. The novel also uses a lot of vocabulary that students are currently learning.
“We decided to choose this book because the story is very interesting and we have used it in past years before and all the students like the story,” Spanish teacher Norma Faraco said.
Although there may be a few words that are difficult to translate, most students are comprehending the main storyline of the novel.
“Some words I really don’t understand, but I know the general story for each page and I think when Mrs. Faraco asks students what each word means, it helps a lot,” freshman Shreshta Kotha said.
Some students are also finding that reading their first book in Spanish is very exciting.
“It’s a nice experience because I really don’t read books in other languages, but reading a book in another language is kind of interesting,” Kotha said.
The Spanish teachers added reading a book during the year, because it makes the students more engaged in the current unit.
“We read this book last year with our level 2 students,” Franco said. “We tried to use these as supplementary resources for students just so that we can give them a little bit more than just what’s included in the district curriculum.”
