"This poignant picture book narrated by a young boy is based on a true story of a New York City teacher who set up a school on a blue tarp spread on the ground near a garbage dump in Tijuana, Mexico.... Without melodrama, Armando's story shows what poverty means and the hope that things can change." -- Booklist

"The well-written text will be an eye-opener for children who take school for granted." -- School Library Journal

"This affecting tale-of a plein-air schoolroom in a deeply impoverished neighborhood populated by pepenadores (trash pickers)-springs from the real deal. . . . The simplicity of the story is what lets it run deep, its bite of realism; no sermons are being delivered here, just a door thrown open to life under reduced circumstances (though Sosa's artwork, with its look of leaded glass, conveys a benevolent quality to the proceedings). Without patronizing, Señor David defines the essence of humanitarianism, while the pepenadores, ever searching for beauty in the beast, find gold-and prize it." -- Kirkus Reviews

Lasting Connection Title, Book Links
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Editor's Favorites, The Bloomsbury Review
Skipping Stones Honor Award, Skipping Stones Magazine

Picture Book for Older Readers Nominee, California Young Readers Medal
Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College
San Diego Book Awards - Picture Book, San Diego Book Awards Association