The Girl from Playa Blanca

by Ofelia Dumas Lachtman

Book Overview

A world of adventure greets Elena and her little brother, Carlos, once they leave their Mexican seaside village to find their father, who has suddenly disappeared in the masses of immigrants... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558851496
• ISBN13: 9781558851498
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Arte Publico Press
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

The Girl from Playa Blanca

By Emily Koch Have you ever been in a store with your mom or dad, and you get separated because you stop to look at something, and they keep walking? Then when you try to find them, you get lost even more? Well, if you think that was scary, try coming from Playa Blanca, all the way to LA, and you're not able to find your father! Elena and her brother Carlos traveled all the way from Playa Blanca to LA, to find that their father has been missing for months. The characters in this story are different. Elena finds that the people she trusts have been lying to her all along. This setting takes place in Los Angeles, California, where they stay at the Montalvo's house. There, she is working as a secretary, and she helps Mrs. Montalvo, because she is blind. Elena and Carlos also continuously visit a well-known restaurant, called La Fonda, where more mischief takes place. The theme would have to be mystery, with a little bit of courage. Because, Elena and Carlos would have to be very brave and courageous to survive everything they go through in this book. It's also mystery, because they have to search for their father, after their mother dies. The ending is my favorite part, because it's not at all what you would expect. But I'm not going to say anything else; you'll just have to read it for yourself. This is a very good book: you'll like it if you read it.

The Girl From Playa Blanca

Book Review of the girl from Playa Blanca Here I am. Soon every thing will be right Elena thought to herself. She thought this would never happen to her but unfortunately it did. This book is about an older sister and a younger brother searching the city to find there father. Elena is the older sister about 19-22 years old. She has the responsibility to take care of her rascal little brother Carlos. Carlos is about 9-12 years old and he is strongly anxious to see his father again. There mother and father had moved away and have been writing to them and sending money so that soon the kids Elena and Carlos can afford to come too. After there mother had died there father had stopped writing and it's a mystery to find out why and were he has gone. Elena and Carlos start off living in there home town Playa Blanca and then they had to move to find there father it's a wonderful place, there are plenty of nice people to help, and there are plenty of jobs there to help Elena earn money until they find there father. The setting goes perfectly with the book and they describe it like I've actually been living there for many years. This book theme is full of courage as Elena and Carlos face the city trying to find there father. Every were they turn, running into problems and decisions as there fixing another. Trusting the people as well as trusting the clues Elena and Carlos fight until they find there father. I think that this book is a grate book because of its detail. It's a very long book but it's a fantastic long book. There is so many events and details to help you though the book. I think every one should read it, any age even if some one has to read it to you I choose this book to write my review on because it make me feel like I'm actually in the book and it makes me want to read the next chapter and the next chapter just to see if Elena and Carlos ever find what they have been looking for all along.

Review of THE GIRL FROM PLAYA BLANCA

For five months, Elena's father had not sent a letter or money to Elena and Carlos. Elena was very worried about her father. She decided to go to Los Angeles with her brother to Los Angeles to find her father. Bringing the letter that her aunt gave her, Elena and her brother went to Los Angeles by bus. The woman who lived in the house told them that their father did not live there anymore. Two police officers brought Elena and Carlos to a restaurant called La Fonda. The restaurant owner let his daughter Luisa drive them to their aunt's friend's house. Luisa knew something about Elena's father, and she wanted sell her information to Elena, but Elena didn't believe her. Ana and Doctor Montalvo let Elena and her brother live with them. Carlos went to school. Elena became Ana's secretary. Doctor Montalvo was Ana's second husband. Elena's work was to read letters and newspapers to Ana. Elena met Ana's oldest son, David. David told Elena that Doctor Montalvo was a bad man. Doctor Montalvo wanted to steal Ana and Elena's father's money and treasure... Ofelia Dumas Lachtman was born in California. She has two children, a daughter and a son. Her parents were from Mexico. Ofelia Dumas Lachtman can speak English and Spanish. She has written many books for children, youths and adults. Besides The Girl from Playa Blanca, she also wrote Call Me Consuelo, A Good Place for Maggie and Leticia's Secret. All of these books were written for grade 7 to grade 9 students. I like The Girl from Playa Blanca because the book is very interesting. When I first picked up this book, I thought it was just about a girl and her brother moving to another city to live. When I finished reading this book, I changed my mind. The author made each chapter connect to the next. When you finish a chapter, you cannot stop. You will keep reading. Because I am a lazy person, I was able to leave the book after I finished some of the chapters. Elena went to find her father with her little brother. It is very hard to find a person in a strange city, but Elena never gave up. It's a very good example to let us learn. It teaches us that we need to face our troubles. The most interesting thing about the book is its realistic characters. There are many sides to each character. Each character is different. This is similar to real life. In the real life, there are many different people around you. Some of them are very nice to you, but others are very evil. Elena's father had disappeared for five months, but Elena believed that her father would not desert her and her little brother. When they went to Los Angeles to find their father, many people helped them. For example, the two police officers sent them to the restaurant, and the restaurant owner sent them to their aunt's friend's house. When I read this book, I found something that I did not really like. For example, the language is hard for me. The author often uses hard words. I had to spend a lot of time translating words t

IVE NEVER READ ANYTHING LIKE IT!!!

The girl from playa Blanca is a wonderful book about a girl on a mission. She has to find her only other living relative besides her little brother. She has to find her father. She will have to overcome many bumps along the way she has to deal with a mysterious man named senior montalvo he is acting very strangely towards her.She makes many friends along the way also, like, Ana, David Mario, the restaurant owner, her driving teacher. She makes enemies to, like, mantalvo, Louisa, kidnappers a homeless man. She comes to America looking for her father but instead she finds no one so she gets help from mantalvo. He hires her as an assistant for Ana. Than thing start looking up her little brother learns English, she starts making money and she learns something about what might have happened to her father. She gets new clothes and becomes girlfriend to David who loves her as much as he loves his mother, her brother is making friends, and she is learning a lot. Hopefully everything will turn out ok. But you will have to read the book if you want to find out. i rate this book five out of five stars .

The Girl From Playa Blanca

The Girl from Playa Blanca. Have you ever lived in another country away from your father and when you went to visit him you couldn't find him and didn't know where he was? Well, this happened to 17 year-old Elena Varges and her younger brother Carlos. Elena and Carlos are traveling with her little brother to Los Angeles from Playa Balance, Mexico. When they got there they try to find their father and look in the apartments that they thought he lived in. They knocked on the door and talked to the owner, They said that they hadn't seen him in about five months. Elena and Carlos go to a restaurant that they know their dad had been before. At the restaurant, she meets and talks with a man that knew her father very well his name was Dr. Montalvo. Elena had mentioned that her and her brother couldn't find her father. Then Dr. Montalvo Offered Elena and Carlos a place to stay while they were looking for him. Elena finds out that Dr. Montalvo wanted Elena in his house because he knew that her father was in Villa Ray, a place where there was a treasure that Dr. Montalvo wanted. When Elena realizes this she knows that Dr. Montalvo and her father were never really friends they were more like enemies. Read the book The Girl from Playa Blanca and find out how it ends and if Elena and Carlos Varges will ever see their dad again. This is a pretty good book because it always has you wanting more. I highly recommend this book.